il 


Ex  Lihris 
C.  K.  OGDEN    I 


J 


all. 


ON   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE. 


1.  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  ETYMOLOGY :  designed  to  promote  precision  in  the 
use,  and  to  fncilitato  the  nciiuisiti^'n  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Enj;lish  language.  For 
bo>,'inner!i.  By  Joseph  Thomas,  M.D.,  Ac.  12ino,  pp.  2A1.  This  worit  is  the  first 
Volume  of  a  scries  of  etymoh)gical  class-books  of  whieJi  the  remaining  two  volumes 
are  named  immediately  below.     Its  leading  features  may  be  briclly  stated  thus  : — 

1.  The  nature  of  routs,  preli.xcs,  and  suffixes,  and  the  distinctiuu  between  primitive 
and  derivative,  simple  and  compouml  words,  are  explained. 

2.  The  prefixes  and  sufSxes  of  Latin,  (ireek,  and  other  origin  are  given,  and  their 
various  m<'anings  fully  and  clearly  stated  and  explained. 

3.  Exereises  are  given,  designed  primarily  to  imjiress  on  the  mind  of  the  pupil  the 
various  meanings  uf  the  prefixes  and  suffixes,  and  also  to  introduce  to  the  analysis  of 
the  words  of  our  language  generally. 

4.  The  jirineipal  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  roots  of  our  language,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order,  are  inserted;  and  under  eiieh  is  placed  the  more  important  Eiigli^'h 
wonls  derived  therefrom,  with  the  litirnl  or  etymoluyicnl  meaning, and  the  jaro^er  or 
utually  ttecrptcd  nii-aniug  of  cueli  derivative  affixed  to  it 

b.  A  Kvy  is  appt-nded,  referring  every  English  word  in  the  preceding  vocabulary 
to  it-J  appropriate  Latin,  Greek,  or  other  root,  and  thus  enabling  the  pupil  who  is 
wholly  unai-quainted  with  any  language  other  than  our  native  tongue  to  pursue  the 
■  tudy  of  (English  etymology  without  difficulty. 

(>.  Throughout  the  work  distinctive  kinds  of  type  ore  used  to  designate  clearly  the 
particular  portion  of  the  definition  of  each  English  derivative  corresponding  with  the 
root,  prefix,  and  suffix,  or  such  of  them  as  compose  the  derivative;  and  copious  notes 
•T  ■  i-  [ended  ;  by  which,  and  the  use  of  the  distinctive  types  just  referred  to,  the  con- 
:i  between  the  liltrdl' or  ctymnlntjiral  and  the  proper  or  vtunllj/  accepted 
iiii-.iii;iig  of  the  English  derivatives  is  traced  and  fully  exi)lained.  These  two  import- 
ant features,  thus  fully  carried  out,  it  ia  believed  arc  peculiar  to  this  work,  and  add 
much  to  its  value. 

2.  THE   CLASS  BOOK   OF   ETYMOLOGY.     By  James   Lynd,  A.M.      Revised 
edition,  edited  by  Joseph  Thomas,  M.I*.     12mo,  pp.  348. 
The  contents  of  this  volume  are  as  follows,  viz: — 

1.  Introductory  Chapter,  on  the  origin  of  language,  and  the  rise  and  progress  of 
the  English  language. 

2.  Chapter  on  prclixes  and  suffixes. 

3.  The  Latin,  tireek,  and  other  roots  of  the  Kngli«h  language  arranged  in  ali>ha- 
bctical  order,  with  a  large  pro]iortion  of  the  English  words  derived  from  each  placed 
under  it  and  defined,  pp.  104. 

This  part  of  the  work  contains  a  considerably  larger  n«mber  of  derivatives  and 
r     '    'lian  the  correJiiondiiig  part  of"  Thomas's  First  Hook  of  Etymology." 

;    I  (iiipler  on  Kii::li«h  words  principally  of  (lotliie  origin,  pp.  .'{(I. 

about  one  thousand  words  of  the  class  designated. 

linh  words  derived  from  the  Laiin  through  the  French,  pp.  8. 

'iii.  :  but  will  be  fdund  valuable  to  the  ailvancvd  pupil. 

fi.  A  :  tnblo  of  English  Synonymes,  pp.  44. 

Of  eM>i.titiiil  viiliio  lo  llio  pupil  engaged  at  eompoxition. 

7.  The  conrluding  chapter  is  a  Key,  referring  each  of  the  thirty  thousand  English 
I'Tivalive  Wurds  cuDlainod  in  "Oswald's  Etymolugical  Dictionary,"  to  its  appropriate 
r  ...t. 

3.  AN  ETYMOLOGICAL  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.     By 

I   '  I.  '  •       il  I.      With  II  I'ri'latory  l>siiy  on  Teiiehiiig  Ihiglisn  (.'ompontion  in  Si'hools 
1  :    :iiifS,  by  ,1.  M.  Ki-ni'v,  M.Il.      Now  edition,  re\  ised  and  •'iilargnl  by  Jo-ieph 
1',  .M.I>.     To  ^  '    '/  referring  the  English  words  contained 

work  to  their  .  ■  k,  or  other  roots.     12mo,  pji.  iU'J. 


The  contents  of  this  work  are  briefly  as  follows : — • 

1.  Introductory  Chapter  on  the  advantiiKcs  resulting  from  the  study  of  Etymology, 
Ac.     By  the  late  Dr.  J.  M.  Keagy.     Pp.  26. 

2.  Chapter  on  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  Prefixes  and  Suffi.xes  of  the  English 
language.     By  Joseph  Thomas,  M.D.     Pp.  38. 

3.  The  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  roots  of  the  English  language,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order,  and  under  eacli  a  full  list  of  its  English  derivatives.     Pp.  4(JG. 

The  total  number  of  the  derivatives,  in  this  part,  is  about  thirty  thousand. 

4.  A  Key,  referring  each  of  the  thirty  thousand  English  derivatives  to  its  appro- 
priate root.     By  James  Lynd,  A.M.     Pp.  58. 

To  such  teachers  as  have  not  given  the  subject  of  English  etymology,  as  a  branch 
of  sehool  instruction,  mature  consideration,  the  publishers  would  niendy  remark  tiiat 
in  tie  Common  or  Public  Grammar  Schools  of  the  largest  cities  of  our  country,  and 
in  many  others,  where  classical  studies  and  the  study  of  the  higher  mathematics  do 
not  find  place,  the  benelieial  effects  resulting  from  the  introduction  of  this  study,  tii 
traiuinq  the  mindu  of  the  pupih  to  hrtbitv  nf  unalysis  and  ijeneralizntion,  and  /)i  iinpnrt- 
iii;/  to  th'.m  a  thorowjh  knoichdye  of  their  mother-tonrjue,  has  been  fully  provcjl  and 
admitted ;  and  that  in  academies  and  other  seminaries  where  classical  studies  are 
pursued,  no  trilling  benefit  has  been  found  to  result  to  the  pupils  from  the  pursuit 
of  this  study,  not  only  from  its  lea<ling  to  the  habitual  and  thorough  analysis  of  com- 
pound words,  h\ii  front  its  impartinj  a  knoxcledije  of  the  tneaiiiiiy  of  scientific  terms, 
which  are  derived  from  roots  rarely  found  in  the  classics  that  are  usually  read  in  our 
schools  and  colleges. 

4.  HARRISON  ON  THE  RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  PRESENT  STRUCTURE  OF 
THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE,  l-'rao,  pp.  3'J3.  This  work  was  not  written  "to 
order;"  but  is  the  production  of  a  ripe  scholar,  who  has  given  much  patient  research 
to  the  subject. 

From  numerous  commendatory  notices  of  the  work  by  the  Press,  the  few  appended 
are  given  as  expressing  the  views  conveyed  bj'  them  generally: — 

"  Rarely  have  we  been  more  disajippninti'd — fiivouraMy  we  mean— than  by  the  examination  of 
this  handsome  volume.  Take  it  all  in  all,  the  volume  before  us  contains  more  valuable,  reinlable 
— yea,  and  entertaininR — matter,  than  any  work  we  have  met  with  for  many  a  day." — Boston 
Daily  Evening  Tiavelhr. 

'•  X  work  of  a  cla.ss  of  which  English  literature  has  very  few,  and  of  which  there  is  a  necessity 
for  very  many....Mr.  Harrison's  hook  affords  capital  hints  against  lack  of  precision,  and  failure  in 
effect.. ..It  i:i  curious  and  entertaining  enough  to  be  put  on  the  parlor  table." — Literary  H'orlcl, 
New  York. 

"  We  commend  it  to  the  favorable  attention  of  the  lovers  of  a  language  in  which  the  cause 
of  liberty  is  to  be  pleaded  throughout  the  world." — jV.  Y.  Observer. 

'■  Altojicther  the  book  i.s  a  delightful  one.  Designed  mainly  for  .schools  and  colleges,  it  will  yet 
find  its  way  into  the  Iil>raries  of  men  of  letters  and  men  of  taste,  and  will  do  much  to  correct  the 
growing  faults  of  style'  in  many  modern  writers.  It  is  iu  every  ref|iect  an  admirable  vcjlumo, 
which,  for  the  sake  of  the  language  we  love,  we  trust  may  have  a  very  extensive  circulation." — 
Evening  Bulletin,  P/iiladrlphia. 

"The  work  may  be  stuiii(Ml  with  the  greatest  Bilvantage,  and  as  a  kind  of  analytical  grammar 
woulil  find  a  most  useful  plao^in  the  school-room." — K.  Y.  Evayigelist. 

"The  reverend  author  has  furnished  a  volume  whicli  will  prove  a  valuable  hand-book,  espe- 
cially iu  our  public-schools. " — Prvtcstaut  Cliurchman,  New  York. 

"  The  correct  siluilar  is  apparent  at  every  step,  and  every  literary  reader  may  profitably  avail 
himself  of  the  author's  labors. " — Tlie  Presbyterian,  Philadelphia. 

"It  should  be  in  the  posses-ion  of  every  teacher  or  public  speaker  or  writer  in  the  land." — 
American  Omritr,  Philadelphin. 

"  We  know  nn  book  in  the  language  which  is  so  profound  as  this,  yet  80  clear  to  the  most 
ordinary  comprcdiension." — Neat's  Satunlay  Gtizette,  PUdadelphia. 

"We  are  satisfied  that  no  English  student  who  gives  this  volume  a  careful  perusal  will  fail 
to  recognise  it  as  the  best  guide  extant  to  the  philological  character  and  pranmiatieni  .structure 
of  our  tongue.  *  *  *  Mr.  Harrison  is  no  V'andal,  who  would  overthrow  a  mighty  and  hal- 
loweil  structure  to  secure  an  area  for  the  uprearing  of  a  hut;  no  empty -henile<l  theorist,  who 
refuses  to  admit  that  otliers  may  lie  partly  right.  Uis  words  are  the  words  of  truth  and  sober- 
ness, and  nee<l  no  other  critic  than  orimmon  sense." — Fit^rgeraht's  City  It-m.  I'hiladrtphia. 

"This  must  prove  to  the  student  a  most  useful  hook,  and  is  evidently  the  work  of  a  scholar. 
*  *  *  Wo  regard  this  dissertation  with  great  favor,  aud  could  desire  that  it  should  lind  its 
way  into  every  school,  as  it  might  he  consulteil  with  advantage  by  every  one  who  wants  to 
sjieak  or  write  corn-ctly.  and  who  would  avoid  the  errors  to  which  the  present  age  secma 
prone." — Baltimore  Patriot. 


^5-565<x::- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/•2-J 


THE 


RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  PRESENT  STRUCTURE 


OP 


THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


BY   THE 


REV.  MATTHEW  HARRISON,  A.  M., 

RECTOR  OF  CUUKCU  OAKLET,  HANTS;  AND  LATE  FELLOW  OF  QUEEN'S  COLLEGE,  OXFORD, 


^birb  American  (Sbiiiou. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
E.  C.  AND  J.  BIDDLE  AND  CO.,  No.  508  MINOR  ST. 

1861. 


riitLArRt.niu: 

rOLtlSIt,  l*HIXTR»,  70r»  JAV5I  f-TUKKT. 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT 


TO 


SECOND    AMERICAN    EDITION 


In  meeting  the  call  for  a  second  edition  of  this  work,  the  American 
publishers  desire  to  offer  a  few  remarks  in  relation  to  it,  intended  for 
those  into  whose  hands  it  may  fall  for  the  first  time. 

The  increasing  attention  paid  by  intelligent  American  teachers  to 
the  grammatical  and  etymological  structure  of  the  English  language, 
has  recently  demanded  the  publication  of  many  works  on  these  sub- 
jects. The  knowledge  that  Mr.  Harrison's  work  has  met  the  decided 
approval  of  a  very  large  number  of  this  class,  that  it  has  been  adopted 
as  a  text-book  in  some  of  the  first  class  academies  of  our  country,  and 
that  it  has  received  warm  commendation  in  the  critical  notices  of  the 
most  respectable  portion  of  the  American  press  (see  notices  on  printed 
lining  paper  of  this  volume),  is  satisfactory  evidence  to  the  publishers 
that  it  measurably  supplies  a  desideratum. 

Mr.  Harrison  is  not  one  of  the  class  who  would  decry  or  underrate 
the  value  of  classical  studies ;  but  he  claims  for  the  study  of  the  Eng- 
lish language,  a  portion  of  that  time  and  attention  which  he  believes 
to  have  been  generally  too  exclusively  given  to  them.  His  views  are 
clearly  exliibited  in  the  following  extract  from  this  work  : — 

"The  purification  of  the  English  language  is  worthy  of  our  holiest 
and  never-ceasing  devotion.  It  will  bear  to  future  ages  the  sentiments 
of  a  free,  generous,  and  singularly  energetic  race  of  men.  It  already 
overspreads  a  large  portion  of  the  world,  and  is  diffusing  itself  east, 
west,  north,  and  south.  It  carries  with  it  tiie  cherished  and  sanctified 
institutions  of  its  native  soil,  and,  under  the  influence  and  adventurous 
spirit  of  the  parent  and  her  vigoi-ous  offspring  in  America,  is  mate- 
rially changing,  or  modifying  the  destinies  of  mankind. 

"  In  all  the  great  essentials  of  language,  we  have  arrived  at  a  degree 
of  copiousness  such  as  few  languages  possess.  But  English  literature 
furnishes  us  with  no  positive  and  recognized  standard  of  grammatical 
accuracj'.  'What  was  the  result  of  the  well-founded  pride  of  Greece 
in  the  excellency  of  her  own  language?  What  the  result  of  tiie  un- 
wearied pains  which  her  orators,  poets,  historians,  and  philosophers 


1104499 


\y  publishers'  ADVERTISEMENT. 

be*to«e<l  upon  their  compositions?  Tlie  delicate  perceptions  of  the 
(irvcian  car  would  not  allow  a  word,  a  sellable,  a  letter,  to  be  out  of 
iu  place,  to  form  a  dinajfrccable  collision  of  sounds,  or  a  cadence 
which  did  not  learc  a  pleasing  effect  upon  the  senses.  The  result  was 
a  lanpiage  which,  perhaps,  will  never  be  equalled  in  the  future 
generations  of  mankind ;  u  Innpungc  which  has  become  as  necessary 
to  the  intellectual  wants  of  European  civilization  as  bread  is  for  bodily 
support. 

"The  French  nnJ  Italians  have  paid  great  and  praiseworthy  atten- 
tion to  the  formation  and  accuracy  of  their  respective  languages,  and 
Ocrmsnr  is  following  their  example.  We  have  societies  of  various 
descriptions,  founded  on  the  intellectual,  social,  or  physical  wants  of 
the  community;  but  we  have  no  society  of  a  purely  literary  character, 
to  which  the  language  can  appeal  in  the  case  of  doubt  or  difficulty. 
The  consequence  is  that  the  vagaries  of  affectation,  and  sometimes  even 
of  ignorance,  will  bo  seized  on  as  authorities  wortliy  of  confidence  and 
M,  Words  will  be  moulded  in  their  Fj)clliiig  to  accord  with  the 
t  ry  and  cTcr-varyiiig  pronunciation  of  the  ilay,  etymology-  will 

be  lost  sight  of,  and  error  present  a  front  of  brass  against  the  hand 
of  correction.  But  if  the  rery  'salt  shall  have  lost  its  savor,'  if 
men  of  high  literary  character  shall  think  the  grammatical  structure 
of  the  Knglixh  language  a  secondary  con!*ideralion  only,  we  mu.st  not 
be  iurpriscd  If  the  sickness  of  tlie  head  should  communicate  itself  to 
each  individual  member.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  men  of  great 
clas«ical  attninments  to  say :  '  I  can  understand  the  grammatical 
coOAlruction  of  a  (ireek  or  a  Latin  sentence,  I  can  compniiend  its 
•yotactlcal  arrangement,  and  the  mutual  dependence  of  its  several 
parts  ;  but  in  Kngliith  1  see  nothing  but  the  force  of  custom,  and  the 
,...i .:  n,..|  liocntiou'^nc'tM  of  idiom.'  But,  it  may  be  asked,  have  these 
1  •  u  ever  paid  a  fiftirlh  part  of  the  attention  to  the  construction 

of  the  Kngliah  language  which    they  have  paid  to  that  of  classical 
■••*     The  (Sri-ck  and   Latin  languages  to  them   have  been  the 
a  lift"  ;   the  Kng1i<ih  frerjuently  little  more  than  an  incidental 
n,  a  matter  of  ear  and  imitation  rather  than  of  grammatical 
prii. 

'                          licre  is  much  in  our  native  English  which  <lcscrv08  a 
"'■•                            !i  on  tho  part  of   iho-te  to  whom    the  education  of 
I  ;   and  no  men  would  be  more  lik«'ly  to  apply  them- 
sclfsa  with  success  to  the  grammalirnl  analysis  of  their  native  tongue, 
*"•'•  •'' their  study,  and  pondered 

o»sr  , — ;.;,..;....,,  .  ;   i.i..k  and  Roman  sentences." 


PREFACE. 


The  following  work  was  begun  some  years  ago.  In  the 
course  of  his  occasional  reading,  the  author  was  forcibly  struck 
with  the  numerous  grammatical  errors  scattered  over  every 
department  of  English  literature  with  which  he  happened  to  be 
acquainted.  For  the  purpose  of  private  instruction,  he  noted 
down,  from  time  to  time,  such  errors  as  he  considered  liable  to 
a  marked  and  decisive  condemnation.  In  doing  this,  he  found 
that  examples  rapidly  accumulated ;  and  he  felt  that  a  system- 
atic arrangement  of  those  examples,  accompanied  by  critical 
observations,  would  prove  advantageous,  to  himself  at  least,  in 
an  intellectual  point  of  view.  Before  he  entertained  any  se- 
rious thoughts  of  publication,  the  remarks  of  others  were 
sometimes  embodied  with  his  own,  without  any  stringent  re- 
ferences to  the  sources  from  whicli  they  were  derived.  To  seek 
to  remedy  this  afterwards  would  have  been  a  hopeless  task. 
When  instances  of  this  kind  occur,  more  particularly  in  a 
work  in  which  authors  spread  over  so  wide  a  space  of  time 
were  to  be  consulted,  he  must  crave  the  reader's  indulgence. 
In  the  case  of  any  historical  fact,  he  ventures  to  affirm  that 
no  single  assertion  has  been  made  which  is  not  founded  on 
recognized  authority.  He  must  beg  also  to  observe  that, 
where  quotations  are  necessarily  so  numerous  and  so  varied, 
he  has  occasionally  availed  himself  of  tlie  labors  of  others, 
and  taken  such  quotations  at  second-liand.  In  such  cases,  he 
can  only  claim  the  merit  of  compilation.  To  read  book  after 
book,  for  the  express  purpose  of  finding  the  misapplication 
of  some  particular  term,  would  be  tedious  indeed,  and 
very  often    unsuccessful.      The   purpose  of  utility  is   fully 

1* 


vi  PREFACE. 

nnsweml  l)y  the  production  of  such  nn  example  as  may  bear 
directly  upon  the  point  at  issue.  It  would  have  been  an  easy 
matter  for  the  author  to  set  up  men  of  straw,  and  to  knock 
them  down  ;  but  he  thou}?ht  it  better  that  examples  of  error 
should  lie  broufrht  forward  jtlainly  and  indubitably  existing, 
even  thouph  he  might  sometimes  be  indel)tod  to  others  for 
their  discovery.  Candor,  he  hopes,  will  allow  that  such  a 
lilicrty  is  panlonable,  when  it  is  generally  acknowledged,  and 
TwKt'meil  l)y  a  great  variety  of  exani[)les  which,  as  far  as  the 
author  knows,  have  never  Ijefore  lx?en  noticed. 

As  his  attention  had  thus  Ikjcu  directed  to  a  grammatical 
analysis  of  such  passages  in  Knglisii  authors  as  he  considered 
of  faulty  construction,  it  occurred  to  him  that  au  Introductory 
Dittruttgion  on  the  Jiixc  and  Profjrcss  of  the  IJntjlish  Lan- 
giififf,  and  another  on  its  Cienius  and  Character,  would  at 
least  give  a  consistency  to  the  work  as  a  whole,  however  im- 
|»erfecl  the  execution.  On  the  Jlise  and  PrcMjrcss  of  the 
Kntjlixh  Lamjuagf,  he  acknowledges  himself  infinitely  in- 
dobt«l  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
(Jrammar,  of  the  Kev.  J.  Hosworth  ;  also  to  Thwaite's  trans- 
Intion  of  I,:ippcid»urg's  "History  of  England  under  the 
Anglo-Saxons" — l)ooks,  upon  these  subjects,  of  the  highest 
value.  Willi  respcf't  to  the  early  migrations  of  our  fore- 
fulhers  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  as  affecting  our  language, 
he  in  under  obligations  to  Laing's  translation  of  the  "lleym- 
i«kringlia,  or  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Norway,"  and  often 
to  comparatively  oliwure  and  sometimes  anonymous,  tracts 
and  dit^'tcrtations,  pointing  to  higher  authorities. 

In  with  these  views,  he  has  given  n  Dinxerta- 

lion  u'>  I'..  /.,.-.  iiml  I'riKirtHH  if  the  Knrjlixh  Lnntjuaije,  and 
tite  chan"'-'  'i!,,rh  it  Uan  undeiyjone,  vow^wuwfr  himself,  as 
mnrh  M   i  ••,  to  Rtrongly  markeil  and  leading  features. 

Thl«  ifl  followwl  by  a  /^i.-.-*.  ;•/«/« tin  on  the  Oeniun  and  Cha- 
nu'trr  of  the  Lanijuafji',  and  on  the  Sourceg  of  itx  Corrup- 
tion.    Ho  had  then  brought  under  consiileration  all  the  sepa- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

rate  parts  of  speech  consecutively  ;  examined  the  application 
and  misapplication  of  each ;  and  has  also  given  a  variety  of 
examples  in  which  the  repetition  or  the  omission  of  connect- 
ing particles  has  been  judiciously  and  effectively  exercised  ; 
and  he  cherishes  a  hope  that  his  very  failures  may  call  forth 
the  attention  of  abler  heads  to  the  still  fluctuating  and  un- 
settled idioms  of  our  language.  In  this  last  department,  he 
begs  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  which  he  has  occasionally 
derived  from  the  subtle  genius  of  Harris,  and  the  sound  judg- 
ment of  Lowth. 

It  is  notorious,  that,  at  our  public  schools,  every  boy  has 
been  left  to  pick  up  his  English  where  and  how  he  could ; 
and  many  of  the  old  exercise  books,  put  into  his  hands  to 
be  translated  into  Latin,  would  often  serve  the  equally  useful 
purpose  of  exerciser  to  he  turned  into  English,  though  the 
authors  themselves  have  either  been  insensible  to  this  double 
advantage,  or  too  modest   to  hold   it  forth  to  the  public. 
The  rigid,  and  almost  exclusive  attention  which  has  hitherto, 
with  few  exceptions,  been  paid  to  classical  literature,  at  our 
public  schools,  diverts  the  attention  of  the  student  from  the 
construction  of  his  own  language  ;  and  it  is  surprising  that 
he  should  ultimately  succeed  as  well  as  he  does.     No  man 
can,  however,  be  conversant  with  the  systematic  construction 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  without  gaining  a  gene- 
ral knowledge  of  the  principles  of  grammar,  and  a  habit  of 
grammatical  analysis,  which  he  carries  with  hiin   into  lan- 
guages of  looser  texture.     But  let  no  one  flatter  himself  that 
the  mere  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  will  serve  him,  as 
an  unerring  guide,  in  the  structure  of  the  English  language. 
Let  the  example  of  Bentley,  great  in  his  generation,  and  really 
great  as  a  classical  critic,  serve  as  a  warning  against  the  ad- 
mission of  such  a  fallacy.     Let  him  place  Bentley  and  Cob- 
bett  in  juxtaposition,  and  he  must,  in  every  page,  be  convinced, 
how  far  superior  the  latter  is  to  the  former  in  clearness  and 
precision  of  terms,  in  grammatical  accuracy,  and  in  the  con- 


viii  PKEFACE. 

structiuM  of  his  sentences.  Let  him  take  care,  lest,  wliile  he 
is  waiulerini,?  in  imufrinatioii  on  the  banks  of  the  Til>er,  the 
Ily&>us,  or  the  Meander — while  he  is  gatheriiifif  the  sweets  of 
H villa — or  drinkinj?  at  the  fountains  of  Helicon,  he  may  be 
rixklessly  and  profanely  tnunpliiijr  under  foot  the  vigorous, 
the  rifh,  and  the  varied  jiruduclions  of  his  own  soil. 

In  the  following  work,  the  author  has  Ijccn  sparing  of  re- 
ference to  da.ssical  illustrations,  bec-ause  lie  had  principally  in 
view  the  Knglish  reader.  Such  illustrations  have  been  in- 
troduced only  when  they  have  borne  ininiediately,  cither  by 
ftircible  parallelism,  or  by  contrast,  upon  the  question  under 
consideration. 

N»)thing  would  give  him  greater  jileasure  than  to  find  that 
this  work,  notwilhstanding  all  its  iinin-rfections,  should  still 
prove  u.seful  in  our  public  .schools.  His  feelings,  sympathies, 
and  early  ass(X!iations  arc  there;  and  he  cannot  but  think 
that  a  more  decidiil  and  systenuitic  attention  to  the  structure 
of  the  Kngli>h  language  would  ft)rm  an  advantageous  appen- 
dage to  the  course  of  etlucation  pursued  in  those  great  and 
nali<inal  establish  men t.s. 

In  jiresuming  to  critit-ise  the  works  of  others,  the  autlior 
in  Well  aware  that  he  may  have  laid  himself  open,  i»erhaps  on 
too  many  «»<-«'asions,  to  the  taunts,  "  riiysician,  heal  thyself;" 
"  Toke  the  iK-am  out  of  thine  own  eye."  He  is  prepared  to 
iibmil  to  them  with  do-ent  resignation,  whenever  the  chas- 
<Mnent  shall  Ik?  inllietcil,  not  from  a  nmlignant  instinct  for 
punisliment,  but  with  the  view  of  correcting  the  olTender.  In 
the  langmige  of  Krasmus  :  "  Nos  ad  utrunH|ue  ju.xta  parati 
ttumus,  ut  vol  rationem  re«ldamus,  si  cjiiid  recti'  momiimns, 
vel  ingenue  eonlileamur  errorem,  sieubi  lapsi  deprehendi- 
njur." — i'ni'fatio  ud  Xoium  TiHlnmnihun. 

With  thix  feeling,  he  castH  his  mite  into  the  treasury  of 
I!'i;:li-«h  literature. 

riiurch  Onkb'jr,  Itmtln^Hlokp,  Ilanljt, 
Not.  17,  IM-. 


CONTENTS. 

PAET   I. 
niSTORICAL. 

Page 

CiiAP.  I.     Introduction l-') 

II.     Original  Seats  of  our  Forefathers         .         .         .17 

III.  Comparison  of  the  Tartaric,  Saxon,  Gothic,  and 

English  Languages 20 

IV.  Migration  of  Odin  and  his  Followers  "Westward   .     22 
V.     Reciprocal  Migrations 26 

YI.     Character  of  the  Northmen  or  Norsemen     .         .     27 
VII.     The  Amalgamation  of  the  Cerman  and  Scandina- 
vian Tribes 29 

VIII.     Accession  of  the   Normans  under  William   the 

Conqueror 32 

IX.     Social  Distinctions  of  the  Tribes  that  settled  in 

Britain 33 

X.     Reasons  why  the   Anglo-Saxon  Language   was 

neglected 35 

XL     Similarity  between  the    German    and   Scandina- 
vian Languages           ...                  .         .     38 
XII.     Migrations 43 

XIII.  The  Changes  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  has  undergone 

in  England 44 

XIV.  Simplification  of  Inflexions 47 

XV.     Summary  of  Changes 51 

XVI.     Names  of  Things  in  common  Use  generally  Anglo- 
Saxon  55 

XVII.     Names  of  Places CO 


X  CONTKNIS. 

PART   II. 

I'll  I  l.(»l,»)<i  U'AL. 

Sl"<   TloN   I. 

OF  THE  aEXICS  ASD  CIlAUAt  IKK  oK  THE  KXG1.1>I1   I.AMil  AGE. 

Page 
CiiAi-.  I.     'I'hc  rriiuii)lt's  on  whirli  Lan}riui','e.s  are  formed   .     CH 

II.     The  Lang-uagc  of  (Jroorc 75 

III.     'the  An^'lo-.Siixoii  Laiijrnajro  .         .         .         .78 

I  N'.     Mouosyllubir  Chanicter  of  the  Kiifrlish  Laiifriiapc     79 
V.     Flexibility  of  the  Kn-rli.'^h  I. aiijriiajrc     .         .         .     'J2 
VI.     A  riiijciple  of  Kninoiny  olist-rvcd  in  the  Forma- 

tiou  of  our  very  Monosyllables  themselves         .     92 
\l\.     Troccss  of  Contraction  and  Siiujilirication  .91 

^  I II.     Want  of  Inflexion  u  Cause  of  greater  Variety  of 

'I'rrmination        .......     90 

IX.     Modification  of  Forei-ni  Terms  by  Modem  Lan- 

jpiages         ........     97 

X.     KfTects  of  the  Cultivation  of  Classical  T.iteraturc    lOl 
XI.      .\dvanta;:<"<  arisinjr  from  the  Judicious   Inlroduc- 

tinii  of  Cl.»->sic.il 'rcrnis       .....   lot 

HKCTION    11. 

H"fBCEB  OF  COBBtTTION. 

1  ii.\i-.  1.      Intrmliiction    of    Foreign    Terms,    I'hrascs.    and 

Iiliomn 108 


II.      Inaulhorized  Term'*      ..... 

HI.      Inflated  Terms 

IV       I  lily  of  Tcrnitf    ..... 

\  .      I  .iiM'  ■   iidki'u  ...... 

\l.     Corruption  ari!*iny  from  Wnnls  altoircther  extra 
neuUH  . 


Ill 
112 
III 
111', 

117 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Chap.  Page 

VII.     Effects  of  Colonization 119 

.  YIII.     Summary 121 


PAKT   III. 
GRAMMATICAL. 

SECTION  I. 

THE  PRESENT  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 

Chap.  I.     Introduction 124 

II.     Origin  of  the  Parts  of  Speech       ....  128 
III.     Grammar  regards  construction  only       .         .         .  135 

SECTION  II. 

grammatical  CONSTRUCTION  OF  NOUNS. 

Chap.  I.  Numbers  of  Nouns 136 

II.  Cases  of  Nouns 141 

III.  Nominative  Case 14.t 

IV.  The  Genitive,  or  Possessive  Case  of  Nouns  .  150 
V.  Compound  Terms  joined  by  Hyphen     .        .        .  155 

VI.     Objective  Case 159 

VII.     Genders  of  Nouns 1G2 

VIII.     Principle  of  Genders  in  the  English  Nuun    .         .103 

SECTION  III. 

grammatical  CONSTRUCTION  OF  PRONOUNS. 

Chap.  I.     Their  Irregularities 107 

II.     Personal  Promiun  ......  1()9 

III.     Inconsistency  of  Number  and  Gender  .         .         .  179 


Xll 


CONTEXTS. 


Ch«p. 

1\".  1 'roper  Use  of  the  Personal  Pronoun    . 

\.  On  the  Use  of  Yo.  You,  anil  Thou 

VI.  Pronotins  Knclitic  and  Kmphatic 

\11.  Tlie  Hi'hitive  Pronouns— Whu  ami  "NVhith 

VI II.  Relative  Pronoun  omitted  idiomatically 

IX.  ArahifTuity  arising   from   the   Plurality  of 
cedfuts       ...... 

X.  Pronominal  Adjectives 

XI.  Kepetition  of  the  Pronoun— its  Effect  . 


Antc- 


PllgO 

.  181 
.  183 
.  187 
.  190 
.  197 

198 
200 
20G 


SECTION  IV. 


ARTICLE. 


CuAP.  1.     Anglo-Saxon  Article 

II.     Distinction  of  Articles 

III.  English  Article  compared  with  the  (Jrcek  Article 

IV.  Irrr/uhir  I' se  of  the  nrfuiitc  Article    , 

\  .  Iji;;lihli  Artiile  con)|)ared  with  the  (icrman  Article 

VI.  The  Definite  Article  improperly  omitted 

VI!.  The    Definite  Article,  not  only  Superfluous,  but 
Mischievous         ....... 

VIII.  The  Definite  Article  j)roperly  repeated 

IX.  The  Indefinite  Article  properly  repeated 

X.  The  Indefinite  Article  improperly  omitted    . 

XI.     I'onfuuion  of  Articles 


214 
215 
21H 
219 
220 
224 

228 
229 

2;{r) 

236 

237 


sr,cTnt\  V 


AUJKl  TIVK. 

Ciur.  I.  The  Adje.iive — ita  Properties 

II.  ('i>nfiiMon  of  Pronominal  Atljectives 

III.  Adjf.  live  in  the  Place  of  the  Adverb 

I\  .  .Vdjective  in  the  Place  of  the  Noun 

V.  Preventive — Particular — Peculiar 

VI.  ('.  '  '>n  of  Atlji'ctives     . 

Vll.  Ai:_,      .   ^  not  admitting  Comparison 

VIII.  Confusion  of  CoroparativcH   . 


239 
241 
245 
249 
2.')0 
2.')1 
253 
256 


CONTENTS. 


XIU 


SECTION  VI. 


THE  VERB. 


Chap.  I.  Its  Moods  and  Tenses  . 

II.  The  Auxiliary  Verbs    . 

III.  General  Remarks  on  the  Auxiliaries 

IV.  The  Neuter  Verb 

V.  Irregular  Verbs     .... 

VI.  The  Subjunctive  Mood 


Page 
.  2.59 
.  262 

.  278 
.  280 
.  284 
.  293 


VII.     Examples  of  the  proper  Use  of  the  Subjunctive 

Mood 301 

VIIT.     Examples   of  llio  proper  Use  of  the  Indicative 

Mood 306 

IX.     Improper  and  confused  Use  of  the  Indicative  and 

Subjunctive  IMoods 309 

X.     Promiscuous  J]rrors  in  the  Use  of  the  Verb         .  315 

SECTION  VII. 


THE  PARTICIPLE. 

Chap.  I.  Its  Character        .... 

II.  Verb  in  the  Place  of  the  Participle 

III.  Proper  Use  of  the  Participle 

IV.  Confusion  of  Nouns  and  Participles 
V.  Prefix  before  the  Participle 

VI.  Participles  ending  in  en,  ing,  ed,  t 


329 
330 
333 
334 

330 
339 


SECTION  VIII. 


ADVERB. 


CuAP.  I.     Its  Nature     . 

II.     Examples  of  Adverbs 


347 

348 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


SECTION  IX. 


PREI'OSITIOX. 

Chap.  I.  Its  Nature 

11.  Adoption  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  Preposi 

tions 

111.  Place  of  the  Preposition 

1\'.  Double  Prepositions 

v.  Compound  and  Simple  Prepositions 

V  I.  Terms  compounded  with  Prepositions 

\'  1 1.  Krrors  in  the  Use  of  Prepositions 

\  1 11.  Hcpi'lition  of  the  I'repositiou 


Page 
359 

:jgo 

365 
366 
370 
371 
373 


sp:ction  X. 


TIIK  CO.VJf.NCTIO.S-. 

CiiAp.  I.  Its  Nature 

11.  Correlative  Conjunctions 

III.  ConjuDctioDK  Copuiutivo  and  I>i!<junctive 

I\'.  OmisHioD  of  Conjunction 

y .  Repetition  of  the  Conjunction 


375 
376 
377 
383 
3S7 


SECTION  XI. 


TIIK  I.NTKIUJKlTlO.V 


COXCLCOL^G  ReMAKKS 


390 
392 


ON 


.THE  EA^GLISII  LANGUAGE. 


PART    I. 

HISTORICAL. 


CHAPTER    I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  seems  natural  to  suppose  that  the  early  history  of 
our  ancestors  would  be  one  of  the  most  interesting 
studies  in  which  we  could  engage.  Yet,  even  in  the 
case  of  great  and  powerful  tribes,  the  subject  is  often 
involved  in  mystery,  and  it  is  upon  incidental  circum- 
stances and  discoveries  that  we  must  depend,  rather 
than  on  any  authentic  records,  or  creditable  traditions. 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  case  with  respect  to  the  original 
seats  of  many  of  the  scattered  tribes  and  nations  that 
now  people  the  different  quarters  of  the  globe.  The 
want  of  written  records  in  the  early  period  of  the 
world,  the  strong  and  absorbing  influence  of  present 
circumstances  and  occupations,  the  novelties  springing 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

out  of  migratory  and  roving  habits,  would  all  tend  to 
produce  that  uncertainty  wliich,  even  at  this  distance 
of  time,  we  ourselves  arc  more  anxious  to  clear  up 
than  those  who  lived  much  nearer  to  the  sources  of 
correct  information,  ^Vilhiu  the  memory  of  living 
man,  the  human  mind  has  been  turned  to  the  investi- 
gation of  subjects  which  seemed  doomed  to  everlasting 
sleep  in  the  lap  of  time.  On  every  side,  we  see  an 
energy  and  a  perseverance  which  are  big  with  unseen 
and  unknown  results.  We  feel  ourselves  individually 
liurried  along  with  the  stream  to  regions  dark,  myste- 
rious, and  undeveloped;  and,  if  we  do  not  take  part  in 
the  stirring  scenes  and  business  of  life,  wc  must  still 
sufler  ourselves  to  be  cast,  in  a  state  of  helpless  resig- 
nation, into  the  vast  and  fennonling  caldron  of  human 
passions.  In  this  race,  to  an  unknown  goal,  our  coun- 
trymen arc  taking  a  decided  part;  and,  when  wo  con- 
trast the  present  widely-extended  power  and  influence 
of  Great  Britain  with  her  state  in  the  palmy  days  of 
Komc — when  wc  were  described  as 

"jienitus  loto  divisdH  oHio  Hrilunnos," 


(the  Britons  cut  ofT  from  intercourse  with  the  whole 
world)— wo  would  fain  lift  iho  veil  of  futurity,  and 
anticipate  those  chat^^'C3  whieli,  as  yet,  remain  hidden 
in  the  counsels  of  Divine  Providence.  In  the  days  of 
her  p'  '  s  IJomo  had  clutched  within  her  grasp  a 
lart^'o  |"iu"u  of  the  civilized  world;  but,  when  her 
|>o\ver  gave  way,  under  the  ferocious  assaults  of  the 
(iolhic  nations,  she  was  obliged  to  call  home  her  legions 
from   Briliiiri,  for  hrr  own  d.  t'ene.'.     'I'hc  Britons,  then 


OEIGINAL  SEATS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  17 

unable  to  cope  with  the  Picts,  were  induced  to  call  in 
the  assistance  of  the  Saxons.  From  that  moment, 
their  independence  received  a  fatal  blow;  and,  with 
the  exception  of  a  comparatively  small  part,  Britain 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  different  race,  under  which  she 
has  arrived  at  her  present  giddy  height  of  political  and 
moral  greatness.  The  Saxon  and  Scandinavian  races, 
originally  one  and  the  same,  have  occupied  the  whole 
of  Great  Britain,  with  the  exception  of  the  Highlands 
of  Scotland  and  Wales,  the  Highlanders  being  of  Irish 
and  Celtic  extraction.  The  history  of  a  people  is,  in 
fact,  the  history  of  their  language.  The  scenes,  the 
circumstances,  the  occupations,  through  which  they 
pass,  will  ever  form  the  materials  from  which  their 
language  must  be  drawn. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGINAL  SEATS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

It  must,  therefore,  be  interesting  to  us,  not  merely  to 
know  that  we  are  Saxons,  Danes,  Norwegians,  Swedes, 
Icelanders;  that  we  are  members  of  the  Gothic  or 
Teutonic  family  ; — we  are  desirous  of  pushing  our  re- 
searches beyond  this  point,  and  of  penetrating,  as  nearly 
as  we  can,  to  the  original  seats  of  the  fair-skinned, 
light-haired  race  that  is  now  playing  so  conspicuous  a 
part  on  the  theatre  of  the  world.  In  former  times,  the 
empire  of  Rome  crumbled  before  them  into  dust;  and, 
in  the  present  day,  mighty  nations  are  springing  from 

2* 


18  OIUGIN'AL  SEATS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

them  in  regions  wlioso  existence,  but  a  few  ages  ago, 
was  beyond  the  reacli  of  conjecture.  Now,  a  single 
glance  at  any  individual  of  this  great  Norlliern  family 
who  bears  the  characteristics  of  the  race  will  convince 
us  that  he  is  not  a  child  of  the  sun — of  climes  "  that 
breathe  of  the  sweet  South."  His  stature,  his  fair 
complexion,  the  rigidity  and  massiveness  of  his  frame, 
all  indicate  the  absence  of  those  causes  which  gradually 
give  a  darker  tinge  to  the  skin,  and  a  delicacy  and 
aupplencjjs  to  the  limbs,  lie  must,  for  ages  prior  to 
hii  migration  to  the  British  isles,  have  been  the  child 
of  cloudy  skies,  and  of  a  rigorous  climate.  Can  we  then 
fix  upon  any  region  from  which  it  is  probable  that  a 
race  of  men  po.s,ses.sing  these  characteristics  might 
migrate  westward,  till  stopped  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ? 
Can  wc,  anywhere,  discover  a  region  which  would  bo 
likely  to  generate  those  tastes,  and  occujiations,  and 
proj>cnsiliea  which  distinguish  the  race  to  which  wc 
belong?  But,  above  all,  can  we  find  any  traces  of  our 
language  amongst  those  hordes  which,  issuing  from  the 
Kaat,  carried  their  conquering  arms  westwanl,  and  pos- 
(M'Sflcd  ihem.selvcs  of  a  large  portion  of  Europe  ?  If  we 
look  to  the  nautical  skill  ami  the  reckless  daring  of  the 
piratical  sea-kings  of  the  north,  wc  should  at  once  point 
to  the  lUaek  Sea  as  the  place  in  which  this  spirit  had 
been  generated  and  nursed  amongst  their  forefathers; 
and  aa  indeed  the  only  place,  except  the  Caspian,  in 
which  it  could  have  been  nursed.  Then,  again,  tho 
Saxon  arj<l  Scandinavian  p(>pulati<jn  have  always  been 
ngricultural,  and  not  nomadic,  wandering  tribes;  and 
it  Ib  on  the  borders  of  tho  IJlack  Sea,  more  particularly 


ORIGINAL  SEATS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  19 

about  the  Crimea,  that  we  find  one  of  the  finest  corn 
countries  in  the  world.  Again,  the  English  population 
have  always  been  remarkable  for  their  attachment  to 
horses.  The  first  Saxon  chiefs  that  landed  in  England, 
the  brothers  Ilengist  and  Horsa,  bore  on  their  banners 
a  white  horse,  on  a  red  field.  The  Cossacks  of  the 
Tanais  or  Don,  which  falls  into  the  Black  Sea,  on  the 
northern  side,  are  noted  as  possessing  a  breed  of  horses 
distinguished  for  their  speed  and  hardihood.  It  is  said 
that  the  Cossacks,  in  cases  of  no  very  pressing  emerg- 
ency, do  not  scruple  to  eat  horse-flesh.  The  eating  of 
horse-flesh  formed  a  part  of  the  religious  festivals  of 
our  forefathers,  and  was  never  abolished  till  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity.  This  is  so  decidedly  a  Tartar 
custom,  that  it  would  be  diSicult  to  trace  it  to  any 
other  source.  These  considerations,  independent  of 
any  historic  records,  are  certainly  very  strong  grounds 
for  supposing  the  neighborhood  of  the  Black  Sea  to 
have  been  the  more  remote  locality  of  our  forefathers. 
If,  however,  we  can  discover  a  similarity  of  terms 
in  the  Saxon,  the  Gothic,  and  the  language  of  Crim- 
Tartary,  bordering  on  the  Black  Sea;  and  if  those 
terms  are  household  words,  or  words  of  every  day 
occurrence,  the  supposition  amounts  to  a  certainty. 
Now  Busbequius,  who  was  ambassador  at  the  Porte 
from  Ferdinand,  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  who  paid 
great  attention  to  the  subject,  has  the  following  pas- 
sage : — 

"Non  possum  hoc  loco  pnutcrirc,  qiuc  dc  gciite  accopi,  quas 
etiamnum  incolit  Tauricam  Chersonesum,  quam,  sa?pc  aiulivcram 
sermone,  moribus,  ore  dcnique  ipso,  ct  corporis  habitii,  oiigiuem 
Germanicam  referre." 


20 


COMPARISON^  OF  THE  TARTARIC,  ETC. 


"I  cannot  —••  'n  this  place,  what  I  have  heard  of  a  nation. 
that  OS  yt't  .  the  Tuiiric  Chersonese ;  and  which,  I  had 

oflon  hcuni,  indicated  a  German  ori;,Mn,  in  hinguage,  in  manners, 
to  countenance,  and  habit  of  body." 

lie  then  proceeds  to  give  a  list  of  these  Tartaric 
words,  whicli  he  took  from  the  mouth  of  tliis  Tartar 
envoy,  at  Constantinople.  Most  of  them,  with  slight 
variations,  are  common  to  the  Tartar,  Gothic,  Saxon, 
and  the  English  language  of  the  present  day.  The 
ri'S'.'mhlance  is  minute  and  indi.sputable,  and  leaves  no 
doubt  of  the  more  remote  locality  both  of  ourselves 
and  of  our  language. 


CII  APT  Ell    III. 

COMrARISON'  OF  THE   TARTARIC,  SAXON,  GOTHIC,  AND 
ENGLISH  I.ANGl'AGES. 


Tarinrie 

\  rj'.n. 

GUhie. 

F.ns/Uth. 

Uroc. 

l'.r.„d. 

Bread. 

Plat, 

Hl.>d. 

lUolh. 

Blood. 

Stttl. 

Stole. 

Stol8. 

Stool. 

IIus. 

Hiix. 

llim. 

House. 

Winpnrt. 

\Vin>,'nrd. 

Wcinagardrt. 

Vineyard 

U«'j.'hi-n. 

Iln-ffn. 

Hi^ni- 

Rain. 

Hro«l<>r. 

Uroder. 

Brothr. 

Brother. 

Hchwmtrr 

•or. 

H  wis  tor. 

Sister. 

Ait. 

1       1. 

Aid. 

Old. 

Wint.h. 

\\    ,1. 

Winds. 

^VInd. 

Bilvir. 

r<T. 

Silvbr. 

Silver. 

(]oltx. 

■ 

Gold. 

Kor. 

< . 

kiinm. 

Com. 

Halt 

w" , 

s.lt. 

Salt. 

FUcl, 

1 , 

1  .  'K.(k,  by  the  Danes 

.)  Fish. 

AND  ENGLISH  LANGUAGES. 


21 


Tartaric. 

Saxon. 

Gothic. 

English. 

Hoef. 

Heafod. 

Head. 

Sune. 

Sunna. 

Sunno. 

Sun. 

Mine. 

Moifa. 

Mene. 

Moon. 

Tag. 

Dage. 

Tags. 

Day. 

CEghenc. 

Eaghcn. 

Augon. 

Eyes. 

Handa. 

irond. 

Handus. 

Hand. 

Brunne. 

Byrne. 

Brunna. 

Bourne 

Schliper. 

Sclaper. 

Zlepar. 

Sleep. 

Singhen. 

Singar. 

Sing. 

Lachen. 

Lohan. 

Hlaghan. 

Laugh. 

Criten. 

Cry. 

To  greet,  in  the  Northern  counties,  signifi 

es  to  a 

y- 

The  numerals  are  ! 

still  more  remarkable 

• 

Tartaric. 

English. 

Itt. 

One.      Not  a  w\ 

hit,  a  tittle. 

Twa, 

Two.     Scotticfe, 

twa. 

Tria, 

Three. 

Fydc 

!r. 

Four. 

Fiuf. 

Five. 

Seis. 

Six. 

Sevene. 

Seven. 

Athc 

\ 

Eight. 

Nync. 

Nine. 

Tune 

\ 

Ten. 

So  striking  a  coincidence  of  terms  seems  amply 
sufTicient  to  establish  a  common  origin;  but  a  remark, 
with  which  Busbequius  prefaces  his  observation,  in 
making  this  comparison  of  the  Tartaric,  Gothic,  and 
Saxon  languages,  establishes  a  still  more  remarkable 
affinity. 

"  Omnibus  vero  dictionibus  pra?ponebat  articulum  tJio,  aut  Ihe 
nostratia,  aut  parum  difTerontia." 

"  Before  all  his  words  he  placed  the  article /7io  or  (he,\ike  those 
of  our  country,  or  diflering  from  them  but  little." 


22  MIGRATION  OF  ODIN  AND 

The  envoy  probably  meant  7wminilnt^  anel  not  die- 
ti'onibus.  We  cannot  suppose  that  the  article  tho  or  the 
was  prefixed  to  every  icord.  It  is  more  likely  that  he 
dill  so  before  every  nou7i,  or  before  so  many  of  his 
nouns  as  to  strike  the  attention  of  the  envoy;  just  as 
the  Germans  say,  der  Mann,  die  Frau  :  or  we,  the  man, 
the  woman.  If  we  join  this  tho  or  the  to  the  Tartaric 
nouns  just  mentioned,  we  have  the  broe,  the  bread; 
the  plut,  the  blood ;  the  stul,  the  stool ;  the  hus,  the 
house,  &c. 

In  looking  at  these  extraordinary  coincidences,  we 
arc  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  concluding,  either  that 
a  portion  of  the  Saxons  migrated  eastward,  towards  the 
Tauric  Chersonese,  or  that  they  originally  came  from 
those  regions,  and  that  some  of  their  forefathers  still 
remained  in  some  of  tlieir  former  habitations  about  the 
shores  of  tho  Black  Sea. 


CUAi'TKK   1  V. 

MUniATION  OF  ODIN   AND  HIS   FOLLOWERS  WESTWARD. 

NoTHi.Nii  ccrUiin  is  known  of  the  Gothic  language 
till  a  short  time  before  the  Christian  era.  Odin,  or 
WiHJin,  witli  his  followers,  migrated  from  tlie  eastern 
side  of  tlic  lake  Mjcolis,  being  driven  out,  as  is  sup- 
pf>Hcd,  by  the  ft-ar  of  the  lionian  arms.  Pompey  had 
«ub<Iucd  Mithridutcfl,  King  of  I'ontus,  in  the  immedi- 
nlc  vicinity.     To  avoid  them,  Odin  retired  towards  the 


HIS  FOLLOWERS  WESTWARD,  23 

north-west,  and  ultimately  reached  Saxland  and  Scan- 
dinavia. 

« 

"  Unicam  gentium  Asiaticarum  iramigrationem  in  orbem  Arc- 
toum  factam  nostrse  antiquitates  commemorant,  sed  earn  tamea 
non  primam,  verum  circa  annum  tandem,  xxiv.  ante  Christum, 
Komanis  exercitibus  auspiciis  Pompeii  Magni,  in  Asiaj  parte 
Phrygia  Minoris  grassantibus  :  ilia  enim  cpocba,  ad  banc  rem, 
nosti'i  chronologi  utuntur." — Arngrivi  Jonas :  "  Crymofjcea." 

The  Gothic  tribes  possessed  themselves  of  a  large  part 
of  Europe,  and  in  the  end  subverted  the  Roman  Empire. 
Odin  and  his  countrvmen  were  not  the  first  that  mi- 
grated  in  a  westerly  direction.  He  and  his  followers 
were  kindly  received  by  the  then  existing  inhabitants. 
He  introduced  amongst  them  many  useful  arts,  and 
also  that  of  letters,  which  form  what  is  termed  the  Eunio 
alphabet.  He  was  reputed  to  be  a  great  magician  ;  and 
we  have  the  coincidence  that  he  came  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Colchis,  the  seat  of  sorcery  and  magic  in- 
cantations, according  to  Grecian  story.  This  migra- 
tion took  place  twenty-four  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  when  Gylfe  was  king  of  Sweden. 

"  In  cujns  tempore  incidit  Odinus  Asiaticaj  immigrationis, 
factse  anno  vicessimo  quarto  ante  natum  Christum." — Arngriia 
Jonas :  "  Crymoycva.  " 

This  account  agrees  exactly  with  that  given  in  the 
"Heymskringlia,  or  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Nor- 
way," translated  from  the  Icelandic  of  Snorro  Sturlc- 
son,  by  Samuel  Laing : — 

"  There  goes  a  great  mountain  barrier  from  north-east  to  south- 
west, which  divides  the  Great  Sweden  from  the  other  kingdoms. 


24  MIGRATION  OF  ODIN  AND 

South  of  this  mountain  ridge,  it  is  not  far  to  Turkland  *  whore 
Odin  had  great  pospcssions.     But  Odin,  having  furo-knowledgc 
and  magic-sight,  knew  that  his  posterity  wouhl  come  to  settle, 
and  (hviU  in  the  northern  half  of  the  world.     In  those  days,  the 
Roman  chiefs  went  wide  round  the  world,  subduing  to  themselves 
all  people,  and  on  this  account  many  chiefs  fled  from  their  do- 
mains.    Odin  set  his  brothers,  Ve  and  Vitcr.  over  Asgaard,  the 
capital  of  the  cDuntry  east  of  the  Tanais  ;  and  he  himself,  with  all 
the  pods,  and  a  great  many  other  people,  wandered  out  flrst  west- 
ward to  (Jardaridge.  (Russia.)  and  then  south  to  SitxlamL     He 
hail  many  sons;  and,  after  having  subdued  an  extensive  kingdom 
in  Saxland.  he  sent  his  sons  to  defend  the  country.     He  himself 
went  northward  to  the  sea,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  an  island 
which  is  called  Odinso  in  Fyen.     Then  he  sent  defyon  across  the 
sound  to  the  nttrth,  to  discover  new  countries,  and  she  came  to 
king  (jylfe,  who  gave  her  a  pbiugh-gate  of  land." 

It  appears,  from  tin.'?,  tliat  Scamlinavia  was  inliabitcil, 
at  tlic  time  that  OJin  arrived  in  those  regions,  by  a 
prior  immigration,  tlio  elder  Asi ;    and    that,  at   the 
head  of  the  warlike  Asi,  he  settled  among.st  them,  and 
drove  northwards  the  Fins  and  Laps,  the  earliest  in- 
habitants of  tho.se  regions,  and  a  comparatively  diminu- 
tive race.     This  latter  immigration  of  the  Asi  thus 
amalgamated  with  the  former.     Previous  to  the  irrup- 
tion of  the  latter  Asi  from  the  East,  Thor,  and  not 
Odin,  wa.s  the  principal  god  of  the  Scandinavian  (Joths. 
Oilin  and  liis  followers  became  the  dominant  party,  and, 
in  some  degree,  supplanted  the  former  religion,  Odin 
now  taking  precedence  over  Thor,  and,  as  it  is  said, 
over  n  more  ancient  Odin,  deified  by  the  first  Goths, 
that  took  possession  of  Scandinavia. 

•  Not  Turkland,  in  the   time  of  Odin,  but   which  l)orc  the 
name,  after  the  cunqucifts  of  the  Turks. 


HIS  FOLLOWERS  WESTWARD.  25 

This  Odin,  with  his  gods  and  followers,  settled  in 
the  regions  about  the  Malar  Sea,  or  Lake  Lcigur,  at 
Sigtun:  on  this  lake,  Odin  built  a  temple,  and  insti- 
tuted sacrifices,  introducing  fresh  religious  rites.  He 
assigned  their  respective  places  to  the  chief  priests. 
This  was  the  last  and  most  complete  state  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian mythology;  and  in  this  state  it  was  professed 
by  our  forefathers  amongst  the  Norsemen  as  late  as 
the  eleventh  century,  and  amongst  the  Anglo-Saxons 
till  their  conversion  to  Christianity  in  this  country. 
The  following  observations  on  this  subject  appear  in 
Mr.  U rquhart's  "  Revelations  of  Russia :" 

"But,  however  this  may  be,  and  whether  we  see  reason  to  look 
upon  the  Caucasus  as  the  cradle  of  mankind  or  not,  to  us  men  of 
the  north,  these  mountains  ought  to  inspire  that  feeling  of  vene- 
ration which  is  naturally  inspired  by  contemplating  the  tombs 
of  our  progenitors,  the  hallowed  soil  where  the  race  which  gave 
rise  to  our  own  mingled  its  dust  with  the  earth  from  which  it 
sprang,  for  successive  generations,  when  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mated it  had  passed  away;  for  it  is  from  these  mountains  that 
the  Teutonic  and  Scandinavian  families,  to  which  we  owe  our 
origin,  are  as  clearly  made  out  to  have  spread  over  Europe,  as 
any  fact  concerning  the  early  history  has  ever  been  established. 
It  is  a  fact  abundantly  confirmed  by  the  similitude  of  feature 
to  the  descendants  of  the  German  and  Scandinavian  ofT-shoot 
of  their  parent  tree,  which  the  Therkessian  and  Ossctinian  na- 
tions, at  present  inhabiting  the  Caucasus,  continue  to  exhibit — 
retaining,  in  its  purity  and  beauty,  in  remarkable  contrast  to  the 
races  which  surround  them,  the  original  type  from  which  we 
have  far  degenerated." — Vol.  ii.  p.  281. 


20  RECIPROCAL  MIGRATIONS. 


ClIAPTEK    V. 

RECIPROCAL   !HIGRATIONS. 

According  to  Jomundes.  the  hostile  trihes  which  in- 
liabitod  Scari/iia,  or  Scandinavia,  under  their  king  Fili- 
mer,  the  fifth  in  descent  from  licrich,  under  whom  the 
Cloths  first  took  possession  of  that  country,  made  their 
way  as  conf^uerors — 

••  Ad  cxtrcmam  Pcytlii.T  partem,  qua;  Ponlico  mari  vicina  est" — 

to  the  extreme  part  of  Scythia,  which  borders  on 
the  Pontic  Sea.  So  that,  in  iiict,  we  have  reciprocal 
migrations  hctween  the  Pontic  and  the  Baltic  Seas; 
that  is,  we  first  have  a  migration  from  the  East  to 
the  Baltic,  under  Berich,  tlie  first  leader  of  the  Asi 
westward  ;  then  from  Scandinavia  back  again,  under 
their  leader  Filimer,  to  the  lilack  or  Pontic  Sea;  then, 
in  tlie  year  24  before  the  Chri.stian  era,  from  the  borders 
of  the  Black  Sea,  east  of  the  'J'anais,  back  to  Scandi- 
navia, under  the  conduct  of  Odin,  where  lie  and  his  fol- 
lowers again  amalgamated  with  their  kindred,  repro- 
scnling  themselves,  as  was  really  the  case,  as  of  the 
family  of  the  elder  Asi,  who  first  took  possession  of 
Scaudiuavia,  under  Berich.  Wo  find  a  connection  kept 
up  between  Scandinavia  and  the  regions  of  the  Black 
Sea  even  as  late  as  the  11th  century;  and  it  is  this 
connection,  and  these  reciprocal  migrations,  which  have 
in  Bomc  ilegroe  perplexed  this  part  of  (Jothic  history. 
In  the  llth  century,  Ilarald  llardrade,  llarald  the 
Stern,  reigned    from  1<>IG  to  lUGO.     lie  was   son  of 


NORTHMEN,  OR  NORSEMEN,  27 

Sigurd  Syr,  brother  of  Olaf  the  Saint,  King  of  Norway. 
lie  entered  into  the  military  service  of  Zoe  the  Great, 
at  that  time  empress  of  Greece.  In  her  service,  Ha- 
rald,  with  his  Norsemen,  fought  no  less  than  eighteen 
pitched  battles. 

"  In  eighteen  battles  fought  and  won, 
The  valor  of  the  Norsemen  shone." 

He  fought  against  the  Saracens,  in  Africa.  He  fought 
in  Sicily,  and  various  parts  of  the  Greciaii  seas.  He 
marched  to  Jerusalem,  destroying  bands  of  robbers 
and  disturbers  of  the  peace.  He  also  passed  through 
Ellepalta,  or  the  Hellespont,  into  the  Black  Sea. 
After  all  these  services,  he  returned  home  to  Scandi- 
navia, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  NORTHMEN,  OR  NORSEMEN. 

These  Norsemen  were  very  extraordinary  men,  pos- 
sessing great  physical  strength;  reckless,  daring,  and 
ferocious.  Before  the  discovery  of  gunpowder,  when 
much  depended  upon  personal  prowess,  they  were  ir- 
resistible. They  were  in  a  state  of  perpetual  warfare, 
eitheragainst  one  another,  or  along  the  coasts  of  Europe, 
and  were  therefore  always  practised  and  experienced  in 
arms.  Being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  harbors, 
and  creeks,  and  rivers,  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  the 
Baltic,  and  the  English  Channel,  their  attacks  were 


28  XORTUMKK,  on  NORSEMEN. 

often  made  under  the  cover  of  night.  They,  at  such 
times,  left  their  ships,  advanced  to  a  given  point, 
surrounded  a  house  or  viHagc,  plundered,  burned, 
butchered,  and  committed  the  most  dreadful  atrocities. 
Such  was  the  terror  excited  by  them,  along  the  northern 
coast  of  France,  in  that  part  which  they  afterwards  sub- 
dued, and  which  has  since  gone  under  the  name  of  Nor- 
mandy, (a  name  derived  from  those  Northmen,)  that  it 
formed  a  part  of  the  liturgy,  or  public  daily  prayers  to 
God,  that  they  might  be  delivered  from  the  fury  of  the 
Northmen : — 

"A  furoru  Nonnannorum.  lilx-ni  uos,  l)oininc," 

A  horrible  mode  of  death  was  practised  by  these 
Northmen,  called  cutting  the  spread  eagle  "at  vista  orn 
ii  bak  cinom,"  (to  describe  an  eagle  on  the  back  of  any 
one,)  from  the  supposed  resemblance  of  the  suflerer  to 
a  spread  eagle.     Snorro  thus  describes  it: — 

"Atl  spociom  nquilir,  tlorfum  ita  ci  laiiialiat,  nt,  ndacto  ad 
itpinnm  ((lailio,  cuHtiMjiio  omnil)Us  ad  IuiiiIhis,  usc|uo  u  torgo  divi- 
^i      '    '  ■-  hcrct."  —  Ltii>innhvnjs   nulc,  Ajujlti-Saxuns, 

/     ,       /  /(,  vol.  ii.  p.  ;m. 

They  divided  the  ribs  from  the  spine,  down  to  the 
loins,  and  then  dra;/gcd  out  tlie  lungs. 

'rinse  men  of  violence  delighted  in  frightful  names; 
such  ai*  were  synonymous  with  Bloody-axe,  Skull- 
cloaver,  kc. 

Merc  liandfuls  of  them,  comparatively  speaking, 
poH'<c,ssc<l  ihcmselvcH  of  populous  kingdoms,  and  kept 
t!..  ;ii.     'I'lii-  wi.rks  of  their  Scalds  breathe  nothing  but 


GERMAN  AND  SCANDINAVIAN  TRIBES.  29 

blood  and  slaughter.     Sigvat  the  Scald  writes  of  King 
Olaf:— 

"  On  with  tliQiking — liis  banner  's  waving ; 
On  with  the  king— the  spears  he  's  braving  ; 
On,  steel-clad  men,  and  storm  the  deck, 
Slippery  with  blood,  and  strew'd  with  wreck." 

Again: — 

"  Into  the  ship  our  brave  lads  spring  ; 
On  shield  and  helm  their  rod  blades  ring ; 
The  air  resounds  with  stroke  on  stroke  ; 
The  shields  are  cleft,  the  helms  are  broke  : 
The  wounded  boarder  o'er  the  side, 
Falls  shrieking  in  the  Vdood-stain'd  tide  ; 
The  deck  is  cloar'd,  with  wild  uproar ; 
The  dead  crew  lie  about  the  shore." 


CEAPTER   YII. 

THE  AMALGAMATION  OF  THE  GERMAN  AND 
SCANDINAVIAN  TRIBES. 

Let  us  now  see  how  the  blood  of  the  Gothic  nations, 
and  the  dialects  of  the  Gothic  language  became  amalga- 
mated on  the  soil  of  Britain. 

The  first  Saxons  landed  in  England  about  the  year 
450.  Their  religion  was  identical  Aviih  that  of  the 
Northmen,  who  afterwards  landed  in  England  about 
the  year  787.  In  550,  i.  e.  a  century  from  the  time 
that  Ilengist  and  Ilorsa  landed  on  the  Isle  of  Thanet, 
the  Heptarchy  was  in  existence.     In  C-10,  Christianity 


80  AMALGAMATION'  OF  THE 

was  generally  established.  In  7S7,  the  pagan  North- 
men made  a  complete  conquest  of  the  kingdom  of 
Korthumberland,  that  is,  of  England  ^orth  of  the  river 
Ilumbcr,  which  they  continued  to  hold  under  the  inde- 
pendent Danish  kings  until  i'53.  In  Domesday-Book, 
made  under  the  direction  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
the  lands  of  Northumberland,  which  then  comprehended 
the  northern  counties,  arc  omitted,  as  if  not  forming  a 
part  of  the  comjucst.  They  were,  in  fact,  already  in 
possession  of  Scandinavians,  the  kinsmen  of  William, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  who  was  descended  within  a  short 
interval  from  Ilrolf  Ganger,  the  Norwegian  pirate — this 
llrolf  (Janger  falling  upon  the  coast  of  Normandy,  as 
it  was  afterwards  called,  at  the  same  time  that  other 
pirates  were  ravaging  and  occupying  different  parts  of 
the  coast  of  England,  So  late  as  the  eleventh  century, 
the  Northmen  were  still  pagans.  In  1017,  Canute  the 
Dane  became  sole  monarch  of  England.  The  kingdom 
of  Northumberland  comprehended  the  present  North- 
umberland Proper,  Durham,  Yorkshire,  Cumberland, 
Westmoreland,  and  part  of  Ijanca.shire.  East  Anglia, 
comprehending  the  Isle  of  Ely,  Cambridgeshire.  Nor- 
folk, and  Suffolk;  E.sscx,  Middlesex,  and  part  of  Uert- 
fordshire;  and  the  extremities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kingdom  of  Mercia,  were  so  entirely  occupied  by 
Danes,  or  people  of  Dani.sh  descent,  that  they  were 
under  Danish,  and  not  under  Anglo  Saxon  laws. 
From  787  to  the  Norman  Conquest,  100(1,  or  nearly 
800  years,  tlie  laws  of  the  Northmen  prevailed  over 
this  large  portion  of  the  island.  The  Northmen,  im- 
mediately previous  to  the  Norman  Conquest,  had  con- 
quered liio  whole  of  England,  and  held  it  from  1003 


GERMAN  AND  SCANDINAVIAN  TRIBES.  31 

to  1041,  for  four  successive  reigns;  viz,  tliat  of  Swein, 
Canute  the  Great,  Harold  Harefoot,  and  Ilardicanute. 
The  Saxon  line  was  restored  in  1042,  and  continued 
to  1066,  when  Harold  fell  before  William,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  at  the  Battle  of  Hastings.  Here  the  Saxon 
line  ceased  ;  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  underwent 
some  change,  by  the  mixture  of  Norman  terms,  and  the 
rejection  of  many  of  its  inflections.  Hrolf  Ganger, 
the  conqueror  of  Normandy,  was  the  son  of  Rognvald, 
Earl  of  ]\Iore.  The  first  in  descent  from  him  was 
William;  yet  in  his  time  the  language  of  the  North- 
men was  not  spoken  at  Eouen,  for  he  sent  his  son 
Richard  to  learn  the  language  of  his  forefathers  at 
Bayeux  ;  so  soon  had  the  language  of  these  Northmen 
fallen  into  disuse  at  the  court — Normandy  being  a 
conquest,  and  not  a  colony.  The  fourth  in  descent 
was  also  Richard ;  the  fifth,  Richard;  the  sixth,  Robert; 
the  seventh  William  the  Conqueror.  The  third  Richard 
was  the  father  of  Emma,  wife  of  Ethelred,  King  of 
England,  aunt  to  William  the  Conqueror.  The  battle 
of  Hastings,  by  which  William  gained  the  kingdom  of 
England,  was,  in  fact,  a  family  quarrel,  decided  by  an 
accidental  shot,  resulting  in  the  death  of  the  then  King 
of  England. 


32  ACCESSION  OF  TUE  NORMANS. 


CHAPTER    YIII. 

ACCESSION   OF  THE   NORMANS   UNDER  WILLIAM  THE 

CONQUEROR. 

Hkhe,  tlien,  are  united,  under  William,  various 
branches  of  one  and  the  same  family:  1st,  the  Jutes, 
wlio  came  into  Kent  in  449  ;  2d,  the  South  Saxons,  who 
came  into  Sussex  in  491 — the  West  Saxons,  into  Hamp- 
shire in  519 — the  East  Saxons,  into  Essex  in  527 — the 
Angle.*?,  into  Anglia,  Norfolk,  in  527  ;  into  Bernicia, 
Northumberland,  in  547 ;  into  Deira,  Yorkshire,  in  559 ; 
and  into  Mercia,  Derbyshire,  in  586.  Added  to  these, 
we  have  the  repeated  incursions  of  the  Norse  pirates, 
and  their  conquest,  first,  of  all  the  country  north  of 
the  H umber  and  tlic  Mersey;  and  then  the  conquest 
of  the  whole  kingdom,  under  Canute  the  Groat;  and 
tlien,  again,  the  conquest  of  England  under  William, 
Duke  of  Normandy.  From  these  various  sources  we 
might  naturally  expect  a  mixed  and  unsettled  language, 
and  a  «trango  jumble  of  dialects — the  dialects  which 
wo  now  liavc  in  dilVercnt  parts  of  England  having,  in 
all  probaljility,  been  partly  introduced  by  the  various 
IrilnrH  whicli  tluis  frniii  time  to  time  settled  in  JMigland 
and  entirely  di.'^i  d  the  ancient  Britons  from  that 

which  we  now  call  England,  i.  c.  the  hmd  of  the  Angles 
or  Angles  land. 


SOCIAL  DISTINCTIONS  OF  TRIBES.  33 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SOCIAL  DISTINCTIONS  OF   THE  TRIBES  THAT  SETTLED  IN 

BRITAIN. 

The  names  of  their  social  boundaries  warrant  the 
supposition  of  the  existence  of  different  dialects  amongst 
the  tribes  that  settled  in  Britain.  According  to  Lap- 
penberg,  the  whole  of  England  north  of  Hartford, 
Northampton,  and  Warwick,  was  first  occupied  by  the 
Angles.  The  counties,  under  the  Angles,  were  divided 
into  Wa2yp€n(aJces.  Amongst  the  Saxons,  they  were 
divided  into  Hundreds.  The  term  Ward,  met  with  in 
Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  jSTorthuraberland,  and  Dur- 
ham, is  probably  of  later  origin.  The  Jutes  occupied 
Kent,  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  a  part  of  Wessex.  They 
had  the  law  of  Gavelkind.  Kent  is  not  divided  into 
Sundreds  or  Waj)pentakes,  but  into  Lathes.  Sussex  is 
divided  into  Rapes.  From  this,  it  would  appear  that 
distinctions  in  their  social  reo;ulations  existed  amonsrst 
these  tribes  before  they  landed  in  Britain.  These  dis- 
tinctions still  continue. 

The  whole  of  Britain  was  comprehended  under  the 
term  Anglia,  for  the  first  time,  by  Ecgberht,  with  the 
sanction  of  a  Witenagemot,  held  at  Winchester  in  the 
year  800. 

"Egbcrtus,  rex  totius  Britannije  in  Parliamento,  apud  Wcnto- 
niam,  mutavit  nomcn  rcgni  de  consensu  populi  sui,  et  jussit 
illud,  dc  caitero,  \ocariA)ifjliam."—Laj^pe7iberg's  Quofnd'on/rom 
Hist.  Fundationis  Ilospit.  L.  Leonardi,  vol.  vi.  p.  G08,  Thorpe's 
Translation. 


84  SOCIAL  DISTIN'CTIOXS  OF  TRIBES 

"Tho  compound  word  '  Aiifrlo-Saxons'  occurs  first  in  Piuil 
Wai-ui'frid.  lib.  6,  c.  15;  '  Cedoaldus.  rox  Anijlarum  Saxon ii m  ;' 
consequently,  before  the  time  of  Ecgberbt." — Wvtefrvm  Lappcn- 
berg. 

To  these  dialects  must  be  added  words  taken  from  tlio 
Norman  no- Franco-Celtic  language  of  Normandy,  and, 
in  later  ages,  terms,  in  great  abundance,  introduced 
from  the  Latin  and  (J reek.  It  is  out  of  tliis  chaos,  this 
fermentation  of  speech,  this  chemical  amalgamation  of 
elements,  that  the  English  language  is  formed.  In  its 
early  and  unsettled  state,  for  some  centuries  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Saxons  in  this  island,  no  language 
was  ever  more  barren  of  every  species  of  composition, 
and  of  all  recognized  principles  of  orthography  and 
grammar;  the  written  language,  whenever  distinguished 
by  such  an  honor,  being  such  as  a  laborer  of  the  pre- 
sent day  would  write,  who  could  do  little  more  than 
write  his  name  and  place  of  abode — he  being,  at  the 
same  time,  perfectly  and  blissfully  ignorant  that,  in 
grammar  and  spelling,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  right 
and  a  wrong.  The  language,  in  the  mean  time,  was  full 
of  terse,  bold,  and  nervous  expressions,  occasionally 
rugged  ;  but  the  limbs  were  the  limbs  of  a  young  giant, 
re«iuiring  only  time  and  discipline,  in  order  to  cover 
them  with  manly  beauty.  As  an  example  of  the  un- 
settled state  of  spelling,  the  wonl  signifying  to  "give" 
is  found  8i>olt  in  eleven  dinbrent  ways;  a.s,  gif,  yef,  if, 
yf,  ycvc,  yeoven,  given,  gifls,  geive  (gin  ye  will)  (gi'me). 
The  rca>K>n  why  Anglo-Saxon  literature — or,  rather, 
language,  for  no  literature  existed— remained  unculti- 
vated and  uidjceded  during  many  centuries,  was  the 
perpetual  stato  of  war  in  which  the  country  was  on- 


THAT  SETTLED  IN  BRITAIN.  35 

gaged,  and  because  Christianity  had  been  introduced 
by  foreign  missionaries  totally  ignorant  of  the  language 
of  the  people  at  large.  While,  however,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  tongue  was  neglected,  the  Churchmen,  in  many 
instances,  were  well  versed  in  the  Latin  language. 
The  verses  of  Wulstan,  bishop  of  Winchester,  on  the 
punishment  of  a  parricide,  show  a  perfect  command  of 
that  languacce: — 

"Nam  occidit  proprium  crudeli  morte  parentem, 
Unde  reo  statim  prjEcepit  episcopus  urbis 
Ferrcus  ut  ventrcm  constringcret  acriter  omncm 
Circulus,  et  similcm  paterentur  bracbia  nienam. 
Continuosque  novcm  semel  cruciando  per  auaos 
Atria  sacrorum  lustraret  saepe  locorum, 
Viseret  et  sacri  pulcherrima  limina  Petri, 
Quo  veniam  tantaj  mereretnr  sumere  culpa)." 

Acta  Bencdicti :  note- from  Lappenhenj,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


CHAPTER  X. 

REASON  WHY  THE  ANGLO-SAXON  LANGUAGE  WAS 

NEGLECTED. 

But,  as  the  services  of  the  Church  were  conducted 
entirely  in  Latin,  and  all  communication  with  the  See 
of  Rome,  the  then  head  of  the  Church,  was  held 
through  the  medium  of  the  same  tongue,  the  Saxon 
Churl  was  left  to  grovel  in  ignorance,  and  abject,  un- 
reasoning superstition.  The  fierce  spirit  of  independ- 
ence and  of  conquest,  which  characterized  the  Saxons 
as   pagans,  when    they  first  landed   on   the   coast  of 


36  REASON  WHY  THE  ANGLO-SAXON 

Britain,  had  been  crushed  under  a  load  of  ceremonic9, 
and  an  unbounded  spiritual  domination.  Large  por- 
tions of  the  country  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
emissaries  of  Rome,  and  the  revenues  of  church  pro- 
perty were,  from  time  to  time,  sent  out  of  the  kingdom. 
When,  therefore,  England  was  invaded  by  the  pagan 
Norsemen,  the  Saxons  had  little  to  lose,  as  a  people, 
except  their  lives:  that  hardihood  and  daring,  on  ac- 
count of  which  some  of  the  German  tribes  were  said 
to  be  a  match  for  the  very  gods  themselves,*  succumbed 
to  the  ferocity  of  the  followers  of  Odin,  ever  jiractised 
in  bloodshed,  and  eager  for  conquest.  Into  the  higher 
ranks  of  the  Saxons,  Christianity  had  difl'ascd  a  milder 
and  more  peaceful  disposition.  Sigeberht,  King  of  the 
Ka.st-Angles,  gave  the  first  instance  of  an  Anglo-Saxon 
royal  monk. 

"So  (leop  rooted  was  the  conviction  th:it  lc«l  tlio  Kast-Anpliiin 
to  a  rfniinciation  of  eurtlily  sway,  that  not  even  the  daiifrer  of  his 
native  hind,  at  that  time  BufTerinp  under  the  cruel  ravages  of 
I'onda,  King  of  Mercia,  eouhl  induce  him  to  forsake  the  quiet  of 
his  ch»iHtor.  When  forcibly  brought  forth  l>y  his  sul>jects,  in  ihe 
ho|>o  that  the  sight  of  a  U-aih-r,  once  honored  for  liis  vulor, 
might  cheer  and  stimuhite  his  warriors,  he  stood  still  amidst  the 
mging  linttle,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand,  until  he  was  slain,  together 
with  his  t»roth«T  Kcgrit-." — Thdrjtr's  Trimslalinu  <>/  Lapju'ubcnj's 
Ij.  I    .  ■■  -  f  l>],uj\anil  tnnlrr  tlir  Atnilit-SftXDti  fCimjs. 

■  n  had  the  time  passed  away  when  the  son  of  Woden 
knew  no  greater  disgrace  than  to  die  in  a  bed.  Hut  to  the  nation, 
the  then  increasing  longing  after  the  ct)wl  was  more  pernicious 
than  the  use  of  harness." — Iilim. 

From    these  causes,  the   cultivation  of  the  Anglo- 

•  "Scuc  uni«  Huevis  concedere,  (piihuH  ne  l»ii  (|uid<'m  immor- 
tolcs  parrs  pmc  posscnt." — Coeaar,  De  Bdln  (JaUico,  lib.  iv.  c.  7. 


LANGUAGE  WAS  NEGLECTED.  87 

Saxon  tongue  was  entirely  neglected,  and  we  have  tlie 
extraordinary  fact  that,  whilst  not  a  single  fragment  of 
Anglo-Saxon  literature  existed,  or  even  had  been  called 
into  existence,  a  Scandinavian  literature  had  existed  for 
ages  in  Iceland — the  remotest  habitation  of  man  ;  and 
that  literature  full  of  a  fiery  and  poetic  daring.  Under 
its  influence,  the  Norse  warrior  was  stimulated  to  court 
every  extremity  of  danger,  and  to  despise  every  ex- 
tremity of  suffering.  He  lived  in  the  alternations  of 
drunkenness  and  slaughter,  gloating  with  a  diabolical 
satisfaction  over  the  bodies  of  his  enemies,  given  as  food 
to  the  wolf  and  the  raven,  or  floating,  in  bloated  putre- 
faction, the  sport  of  wind  and  wave. 

When  these  Norsemen  took  possession,  therefore,  of 
various  portions  of  the  kingdom,  we  might  naturally 
expect  that  their  language,  originally  of  the  same 
family  with  the  Anglo-Saxon,  though  now  diversified 
by  time  and  circumstances,  would  mix  itself  with  the 
language  of  the  more  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  soil. 

That  a  considerable  similarity  existed  between  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Scandinavian,  both  originally, 
and  by  subsequent  amalgamation,  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  about  the  time  of  the  conversion  of  the  followers 
of  Odin,  in  later  ages,  a  Saxon  priest  was  sent  from 
England  to  assist  in  the  conversion  of  the  Scandina- 
vians, as  being  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  Scandi- 
navian language. 

^[r.  Bosworth  has   given  various  examples,  which 
perfectly  establish  the  similarity  that  existed  amongst 
all  the  Germanic  languages.     The  Dutch  V,  it  may  bo 
premised,  is  sounded  like  the  English  F. 
4 


38 


SIMILARITY  llETWEEX  THE  GERMAN 


CUAPTKU   XI, 


SIMILARIIT  BETWEEN'  THE  GERMAN  AND  SCANDINAVIAN 

LANGUAGES. 


KnfflUk.  AitffUfSax.    Dulrh.       Frit. 

VimIi.      Fliik. 

Vl»rliH(i    Flckt"*. 
VUclio.     FIbk-o. 
Vl>cli.      FUk. 
\'i'i  liiMi.  FUknr. 

*  u.  Klxka. 

I  \  ■  11.  KlnktllU. 

FtabM.         Fl»ku.      Vltclien.  FUkar. 


A  Klob.  Kl-c. 

A  Flub'*.  Fl»r<-i<. 

To  •  FUh.  FUc-«. 

A  FUb.  FlKC. 

Ftohe*.  Fiiiraa. 


Oft.       MiTH.       Dan.     Sicfd.       Icfl. 

Klitcb.      Fiskn.  Fi^k.     Kisk.        Fiskr. 

Fli-chPH.  FlKklii.  Fl»k».  Fi^ka.      Fisks. 

Flnch-e.  FUku.  Flxk.     FUk.        Fi«k-«. 

Finch.      Flitk.  Flxk.     Fixk.        Fi^k. 

Flhcho.    Fii-ko*.  Fi^k.     Flnkonn.  Flhkar. 

Flhclu*.     Flhkl.  FickoH.  FihkiirH.  Fl^kur. 

FlKrhrii.  FlNkt-r.  Flnkc  Flnkur.    Fixkiiin. 
Flsi-bo.     Flakauo  FUko.  Fixkur.    Flkka. 


KngtUh,  AHglo-Stu.    Pulrh.       Frit.  flrr. 


MiiK.     Pun.     Nirttl.       Int. 


I. 

MlDA. 

ToMp. 
Mo 

Wr 

Oor 
To  I.. 
V: 


le. 

Hlo. 

Mo. 

M.-. 

\Vp. 

!«. 

c*. 


Ir 

MiK. 

M  ,• 

«■)«. 

Ouivr. 

Oo«. 

On*. 


Ik. 

MIn. 

Ml. 

.M1..I1. 

Wl. 

t'ao. 

r». 

Ui. 


in,. 

M<-lu. 

Mir. 

Ml.  ii. 

Wlr. 

I'oMr. 

ITuii. 

I'D*. 


Ik.  J.R. 

Mrliin.  Mlu. 
Mix.       MIJ. 
Mik.      Miff. 
WelH.    Wl. 
L'niuira.Vor. 
Vu*.      Oh. 
I'ua.      Os. 


Jug. 

Mtu. 

MIJ. 

Ml«. 

Wl. 

Wiir. 

IUh. 

U.1S. 


Ek. 

Mill. 

M.r. 

Mik. 

Wot. 

Wi»r. 

(IK*. 

Ow. 


Irregular  Verbs. 

But  pprhnjts  tlu;  struiif^cst  ])roof  of  an  identity  of 
origin,  in  nil  the  (ii-rnmn  languages,  is  to  bo  fomid  in 
the  case  of  irregular  verbs  ami  comparisons.  'J'ake,  for 
iufttance,  the  verb  come,  Knglisli;  present,  come;  perfect, 
onme;  past-participle,  conic.  Anglo-Saxon,  eumo,  com, 
cunien.  Kris,  kcfn,  koni,  kcnicn.  Low  Dutch,  kom, 
kwnin,  gi-koinoinon.  Miesic,  (piiiiM,  riuain,  ([uiman. 
<k'rmnn,  kornme,  katn,  (ge)  kommen.     Icel.  kcm,  kom, 


AND  SCANDINAVIAN  LANGUAGES.  39 

komrnen.    Dan.  kommen,  kam,  kummen.     Swed.  kom- 
men,  kom,  kommen. 

Irregular  Comparisons. 

English,  good,  better,  best.  Anglo-Saxon,  god,  betra 
betst.  Fris.  god,  bettre  (betere),  beste.  Dutch,  goed 
beter,  best.  Mtes.  goths,  batiza,  batist.  Ger.  gut 
besser,  beste.  Icel.  god,  bettri,  bestr.  Dan.  god,  bedre 
beste.     Swed.  god,  biittre,  biist. 

Many  nouns  may  be  traced  through  all  these  Ian 
guages,  with  very  insignificant  variations.  For  exam 
pie:  Anglo-Saxon,  meolc.  Plat.  Dutch,  melk.  Ger, 
milch.  Icel.  meolk.  Danish,  malk.  Swed,  mjolk 
English,  milk. 

Anglo-Saxon,  rec.  Plat.  Dutch,  rook.  Fris.  rec 
Ger.  rauch.  Icel.  reykr.  Dan.  rog.  Swed.  rok.  En 
glish,  reek, 

A  Dalecarnian  boy,  brought  over  by  the  Swedish 
ambassador,  is  said  to  have  easily  understood  the  lan- 
guage spoken  by  the  peasantry  of  the  north  of  England. 
The  Dalecarnian  is  the  mountain  dialect  of  Norway, 
It  is  also  said  that  some  Scotch  formers,  who  have  taken 
up  their  abode  in  Norway,  have  little  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  Norwegians,  or  being  understood  by 
them.  In  making  the  comparison,  we  must  not  look  to 
the  spelling,  but  to  the  general  sound  of  the  word.  As 
a  proof  of  the  strong  similarity  between  the  English 
and  the  Danish  languages,  we  cannot  perhaps  have  a 
better  specimen  than  the  following  quotation,  taken 
from  the  beginning  of  a  national  song,  which  is  to  the 
Danes  what  "God  save  the  King"  is  to  the  English: — 


40  SIMILARITY  BETWEEN  THE  GERMAN 

English. 
"  Kin?  Christian  stood  l»y  the  lofty  mast, 

In  mist  and  smoke  ; 
Ilis  sword  was  hammering  so  fast, 
Through  Gothic  hehn,  and  brain  it  pass'd; 
Then  sank  each  hostile  hulk  and  mast 

In  mist  and  smoke. 
Fly,  shriek'd  they,  Hy  he  who  can  ; 
"NVho  Ijravcs  of  Denmark's  Christian 

The  stroke  ?" 

Danish. 

"  Kong  Christian  stod  vcd  hiiica  mast, 

I  Uog  og  Damp; 
Hans  Viergc  hum  rede  saa  fast, 
At  (Jothcns  Ilii'lm.  »>g  llirrne  hrast  ; 
l)u  sank  hvor  fii-ndligt  Speil  og  Mast 

I  Uog  og  Dump. 
Five,  skn-ydf  five,  hoad  flye  ran  ; 
lloo  staur  for  D;iiim;irk's  Christian 

I  Kump  ?" 

Some  of  these  words  resemble  the  Anglo-Saxon  more 
than  they  do  the  English  of  the  present  day ;  as  fiend- 
ligt,  the  Anglo-Saxon  being  feondlic,  signifying  hostile; 
hvor,  in  Anglo-Saxon,  loghwajhcr,  caeh. 

In  the  same  song,  the  following  words  occur  in  one 

lino: — 

'•  Huns  hciflodo  dot  rlld  flag." 

"H.!  I.mI-i.  ,1  the  red  ilag." 

Modern : — 

"  lliins  mud  var  grn^shoppor,  og  vild  honning." 

"  Iliti  mcnl  wuH  (IocuhI)  gnwshopper,  and  wild  honey." 

"  Hun  Kuid  til  drm,  folgcr  I'fter  mig." 
"  Jle  Huitl  to  them,  follow  after  me." 

In  the  national  song  we  see  not  only  a  close  similarity 


AND  SCANDINAVIAN  LANGUAGES.  41 

of  terms,  but  a  capability  of  mutual  translation,  almost 
word  for  word,  with  the  same  metrical  arrangement. 

Some  stanzas  by  the  Countess  of  Blessingtou  on  Life 
and  Death,  which  appeared  in  the  "  Book  of  Beauty," 
in  1834:,  have  been  translated  by  Mr,  Bosworth  into 
the  present  Friesic  language,  and  resemble  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  so  closely,  that  the  mere  English  scholar  may  at 
once  comprehend  the  greater  part  of  it : — 

"  Dead,  hwat  bist  dou, 
Ta  hwaem  alien  buisgje, 

Fen  de  scepterde  kening  ta  da  slave  ? 
De  lajtstc  bajste  freon, 
Oin  iins  soargen  to  eingjen, 
Dyu  gebiet  is  in  t'  gra;f," 

"  Death,  what  art  thou, 
To  whom  all  bow, 

From  sceptered  king  to  slave  ? 
The  last  best  friend, 
Our  cares  to  end, 

Thy  empire  is  in  the  grave." 

"  When  Wilfrith,  Bishop  of  York,  was  accidentally  thrown 
upon  the  coast  of  Friesland,  he  preached  to  them  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  in  the  intelligible  dialect  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  bap- 
tized nearly  all  the  princes,  with  many  thousands  of  the  people." 
— Lappenberg. 

The  Friesians,  from  the  earliest  ages,  have  occupied 
the  same  country,  bordering  on  the  Ems,  and  stretch- 
ing into  Jutland.  They  were  neighbors  of  the  Angles, 
from  whom  we  derive  our  name  of  Anglesmen  or 
Englishmen;  and,  being  a  maritime  people,  most  pro- 
bably joined  the  Angles  in  their  irruptions  into  Britain. 
We  have  then  all  these  various  streams,  issuing  from 
the  great  Gothic  reservoir,  again  collected  on  the  soil 

4* 


42  GERMAX  AST)  SCANDINAVIAN  LANGUAGES. 

of  Britain,  receiving  an  accession  from  the  Norman, 
and,  as  the  progress  of  arts,  and  sciences,  and  literature 
require,  admitting  various  additions  from  the  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  occasionally  from  the  modern  languages  of 
Kurope.  In  the  northern  counties  of  England,  the 
language  of  the  common  people  is  to  this  day  Dano- 
Saxon,  and  differs  very  materially  from  the  language  of 
the  South  both  in  terms  and  pronunciation.  There  is 
in  the  North  a  striking  peculiarity  in  the  use  of  the  de- 
finite article.  The  Southern  imagines  that  it  is  dropped 
altogether  before  words  beginning  with  a  consonant. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  case.  It  is  always  mentally, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  audibly,  pronounced  in  such 
cases.  In  the  South  it  would  be  said,  for  example, 
fetch  THE  cows;  in  the  North,  fetch  t'  cows.  Even  in 
words  beginning  with  a  vowel  the  same  principle  is 
adopted,  as,  drive  f  ass  out  of  t'  orchard. 

The  origin  of  this  custom  we  find  in  the  phrase, 
which  occurs  in  the  stanzas  on  Death,  already  quoted, 
in  f'  graj]  in  f  grave,  in  tlie  grave.  In  the  liindelopian 
Calendar  f(^r  .seamen,  we  find  the  dialect  of  Westmore- 
land so  clearly  marked,  that  whole  lines  would  be  un- 
derstood there  without  difficulty,  whether  spoken  or 
written.     For  example  : — 

"  As  wi!  loiiuiu'ljc  (twor  /'  wivttcr." 
"Ah  we  tuinlilf  over  tlie  water." 
WcHlmorelunil.     "Ah  we  tuminel  ower  t'  wuUor." 

A.S  a  general  surnmarv,  tlicn.  we  have  these  results. 


MIGRATIONS. 


43 


CHAPTER    XII. 


MIGRATIONS. 
First  Migration. 

The  Gomerian  or  Celtic  race,  migrating  from  the 
East,  and  occupying  a  considerable  portion  of  Europe. 
These  were  the  first  occupants,  and  from  these  are  de- 
rived the  following  languages: — 

Celtic. 
I 


Anc'.  Gaul*.        Anc'.  Britisli. 
I 


Anc'.  Irish. 
I 


Irish.     Erse.    Mauks. 


Ill  I 

Welsh.      Arm".     Cernist.  Highland  Scotch. 

Second  Migration. 
The  next  migration  from  the  East  took  place  about 
700  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  this  consisted 
of  the  Gothic  or  Teutonic  tribes.  The  bulk  of  Euro- 
peans are  descended  from  these.  From  the  Gothic  are 
derived  the  following  languages: — 


Anglo- 

\ 

Gotl 
1 

lie. 

Saxon. 

Fran-cic. 
1 

Mffiso-Gothic.         Cim-bric, 

Ger-man. 

or 
Old  Icelandic. 

Modern  English. 

Sue-vian, 

1 

Lowland  Scotch. 

or 

Modern  Icelandic. 

Eelgic, 

Swabian 

Norse,  or  Norwegian. 

or 

Swiss. 

Danish. 

Low  Dutch. 

Swt'ilish. 

Frisic  or  Holland. 

Orkiit'yan. 

BOSWOBTII. 

44  CHANGES  ANGLO-SAXON 

Last  Migration. 

The  last  stream  of  population  from  the  East  was  the 
Sclavonic,  which  overflowed  Russia,  Poland,  Eastern 
Prussia,  ^^oravia  and  Bohemia.  With  the  Celtic  and 
Sclavonic  the  English  language  has  very  little,  if  any 
affinity.  The  blood  of  all  the  Gothic  tribes  flows  in  its 
veins.  The  bone,  and  sinew,  and  muscle  are  Gothic:  its 
filling  up  and  polish,  and  adaptation  to  the  progressive 
exigencies  of  the  times,  are  from  the  Koman  and  Grecian 
models. 


CllAPTEll  Xlll. 

THE  CHANGES  THAT  THE  ANGLO-SAXON  HAS  UNDERGONE 

IN  ENGLAND. 

The  First  Chanrje  that  took  ])lace  was  from  the  par- 
tial introduction  of  Scandinavian  terms  from  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark. 

Names  of  Places. 

It  i.4  almo.st  a  general  rule,  that  the  names  of  towns 
and  villages  ending  in  l>i/ aro  of  Scandinavian  origin,  as 
Derby,  WhitVjy.  Such  names  abound  in  the  northern 
parts  of  England,  whilst  few,  if  any  towns  or  villages  in 
the  south  of  England,  have  names  ending  in  hi/,  Hatjhij 
cxccj»to<l.  7/ye,  in  Dani.sh,  signifies  a  town  or  village. 
Thus  By^  combined  with  a  term  descriptive  of  somo 


HAS  UNDERGONE  IN  ENGLAND.  45 

local  feature  or  peculiarity,  would  form  the  proper  name 
of  a  town  or  village;  as,  Whlthy^  White-^^,  White- 
Town  ;  DeoT-Bi/,  ^^^  habitation  or  place  of  Deer,  Deer- 
B>/,  Derby. 


Karnes  of  Persons. 

The  proportion  of  names  ending  in  son  preponderate 
greatly  among  the  Dano-Saxon  population  of  the  North. 
Such  names  were  originally  of  Scandinavian  origin, 
though  the  principle  was  afterwards  extended  to  Anglo- 
Saxon  names,  and  obviously  must  have  been  so  in  the 
case  of  names  derived  from  Scripture ;  as,  Johnson, 
John  son.  The  names  Arneson,  Arason,  Haraldson, 
HaraldSigurdso??,  Harald  son  of  Sigurd,  were  common 
in  Scandinavia,  before  we  hear  of  such  terminations 
in  England.  Swein  still  exists  in  the  present  name, 
Swainson.  Swend  was  born  of  Aljila,  a  daughter  of 
Earl  Alfrim,  and  was  also  called  Swend  Airila507i. 
Olafson,  son  of  Olaf  the  Saint.  Eric,  Ericson.  Ulf, 
Ulfson. 

Ing  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  termination  denoting  son; 
as  Ethelwulf  Ecbrightm^,  Ethelwulf  the  son  of  Ecbert 
or  Ecbright;  'Brjuinr/,  Bryn's  son. 

Amongst  the  Northmen,  who  took  possession  of  that 
region  which  is  now  called  Normandy,  such  names  as 
ended  in  soil  generally  took  the  prefix  Filz  or  Fits,  a 
contraction  of  Filius,  in  the  place  of  son;  thus  Gerald- 
son  would  become  Fitz  or  Fitz- Gerald. 

The  Second  Change  commenced  with  the  accession  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  progressed  to  about  the 
time  of  Henry  the  Third. 


46  CHANGES  IN  .VNGLO-SAXON. 

"The  fouudation  indeed  of  Xormun  influcucc,  in  England,  was 
laid  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  who,  having  passed 
his  youth,  and  having  received  his  education,  at  the  court  of  his 
uncle  Duke  Richard,  relumed  to  his  native  country  with  a  train 
of  N'ornmn  favorites.  This  Norman  faction  was  oi)poscd  by  the 
Saxons,  under  Earl  Godwin;  liut  the  battle  of  Hastings  put  an 
end  to  the  struggle,  and  the  French  ascendancy  became  com- 
plete."— Ilipptslvy  ;   Chapters  on  English  Literature,  p.  9. 

Property  and  official  dignities  were  occupied  by  the 
Normans.  The  language  of  the  court  and  of  public 
busines.s  was  Norman ;  and  a  knowledge  of  that  lan- 
guage became  a  necessary  qualification  for  the  dis- 
charge of  public  duties.  It  consequently  became  a 
part  of  school  and  university  education  to  translate 
Latin  into  French. 

'•  In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  the  fate  of  French,  as  a 
national  language.  wiu<  sealed.  Soon  after  the  plague  in  I31H,  the 
practice  of  tnmslating  into  French  was  discontinued  by  school- 
numtcrs."  ..."  Ily  a  statute  of  \'.\C>'2,  all  ])!cas  in  courts  of  justice 
arc  directed  to  be  liiniiil  mi  in  I'liu'li-h." — llipinsUy,  p.  11. 

Tlic  Tliird  Change  canio  on  about  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth. 

The  Fourihj  irom  that  time  has  been,  and  is  now 
in  progress;  consi.sting  chiefly  of  the  api)lication  of 
numcnnjs  cla.s.Hical  terms  to  the  literature,  and  the  arts 
and  Hcicncca  of  the  day. 

Cliauccr,  SpL»n.scr,  Shakspeare  are  the  great  laiid- 
marks  of  Kngli.sh  poetry,  each  exercising  no  inconsider- 
able influence  over  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

'I'ho  mo.st  imporUmt  change  was  begun  by  the  Danes, 
bccau.He  it  waa  a  structural  ciiangc :  they  disregarded 
inflexions.     According  to  Hicks,   llciiky,  and  Jia.sk, 


SIMPLIFICATION  OF  INFLEXIONS.  47 

the  Anglo-Saxon  had  six  declensions;  according  to 
Thwaites  seven,  Manning  four,  Lje  three,  which  last 
number  is  also  adopted  by  Bosvvorth.  Judging  from 
so  wide  a  diversity  of  opinion,  there  must  have  been 
multitudes  of  exceptions  to  any  general  rule  on  the 
subject  of  declensions.  The  Anglo-Saxon  had  four 
cases  in  each  number,  nominative,  genitive,  dative,  and 
accusative,  determined  by  the  ending  of  the  word.     As 

Singular.  Plural. 

N.  Smith,  a  smith.  N.  Smith-as,  smiths. 

G.  Sraith-es,  of  a  smith.  G.  Smith-a,  of  smiths. 

D.  fc^mith-c,  to  a  smith.  1).  Smith-um,  to  smiths. 

A.  Smith,  a  smith.  A.  Smith-as. 


CHAPTEK   XI  Y. 

SIMPLIFIC-A.TION  OF    INFLEXIONS. 

In  the  time  of  Chaucer,  about  the  year  1350,  the  six 
declensions  of  Anglo-Saxon  nouns  were  reduced  to  one, 
and  the  cases  from  four  to  two — the  genitive  case  being 
formed  from  the  nominative,  by  the  addition  of  es,  in 
the  singular  number;  and,  in  the  plural,  all  the  cases 
being  invariable.  In  the  plural  number  of  nouns  we 
have  some  exceptions  to  the  general  rule;  as  ox,  oxen; 
and,  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  amongst  the  common 
people,  we  still  hear  house,  housen.  From  the  present 
structure  of  our  own  language,  we  know  that  the  rela- 
tion of  words  to  each  other  may  be  expressed  by  the 
use  of  prepositions,  without  the  assistance  of  these  varia- 
ble aud  complex  terminations.    The  Normaus  also,  find- 


48  SIMPLIFICATION'  OF  INFLEXIONS. 

ing  the  cases  and  the  remaining  inflexions  of  nouns  in- 
convenient, dispensed  with  them  altogotlier,  except  in 
the  expression  of  the  genitive  case;  and  this  is  often 
formed  by  the  use  of  the  preposition  of  before  the  noun, 
instead  of  the  abbreviated  Saxon  genitive;  as,  Christes, 
Christ's,  of  Christ.  In  dispensing  with  these  variable 
tcrminationp,  the  language  was  returning  to  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Uebrew  language,  which  expressed  the  re- 
lation of  words  by  i>rcjixes^  the  same  prefix  being 
applicable  to  any  noun,  and  each  noun  remaining  in- 
variable, except  in  the  diflercncc  between  the  singular 
and  the  plural  numbers. 
The  Hebrew  says: — 

SiuQular.  Plural. 

seq,  a  sack.  PCfpiim.  sacks. 

le-.Hcq,  of  a  Hack.  le-socjiiim,  of  sacks, 

mp-st'fj.  from  a  sack.  mc-scrinim,  from  the  sacks. 

Im-,si(j,  ill  a  sack.  bc-8i'«iuim,  ill  sacks. 

TTere  the  noun  itself  is  invariable,  except  as  far  as  it 
is  requisite  to  di.stingui.sh  the  plural  from  the  singular 
number  by  the  addition  of  j"//j,  as  wc  do  by  the  addition 
of  a;  8oq,  scquim,  sack,  sacks.  The  Northmen,  there- 
fore, in  avoiding  trouble,  by  simplifying,  were  in  fact 
returning  to  an  old  and  philosophical  principle,  which 
hoB  been  nd<jptcd  to  a  certain  extent  in  modern  Greek, 
and  in  the  Italian  language. 

Again,  the  Anglo-Saxon  had  its  arbitrary  genders, 
like  the  Greek,  Latin,  French,  and  German  of  the  pre- 
Hcnt  day;  than  which  nothing  can  be  more  unphilo.so- 
phical,  or  gratuitously  troublesome.  Why,  for  instance, 
should ytre  bo  of  the  masculine  gender  in  Latin,  tcatcr 


SIMPLIFICATION  OF  INFLEXIONS.  49 

in  the  feminine,  air  in  the  masculine,  eo.rili  in  the  femi- 
nine, and  heaven  in  the  neuter?  As  a  principle,  the 
English  language  has  discarded  these  absurdities;  and, 
except  in  the  case  of  figurative  personification,  all  crea- 
tures of  the  male  sex  are  of  the  masculine  gender,  those 
of  the  female  sex  of  the  feminine,  and  things  without 
life  are  of  neither  gender,  or  neuter.  The  English  lan- 
guage determines  the  gender  by  the  signification  of  the 
term,  without  any  respect  to  the  termination.  The 
ancient  languages,  except  the  Hebrew,  determined  the 
gender  by  the  termination,  without  respect  to  the  signifi- 
cation, but  with  innumerable  exceptions  and  inconsist- 
encies; and  it  would  be  a  bold  assertion  to  say  that,  in 
Latin  and  Greek,  or  in  many  modern  languages,  there 
is  any  such  thing  as  a  general  rule  on  the  subject  of 
genders. 

Again,  in  the  x\nglo-Saxon,  adjectives  had  their  sin- 
gular and  plural  numbers,  and  their  masculine,  feminine, 
and  neuter  genders  distinguished  by  the  termination^ 
and  agreeing  with  their  respective  nouns;  but,  as  the 
adjective,  both  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  modern  English, 
is  in  juxta-position  with  its  nouns,  of  which  it  expresses 
the  quality,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  any  varia- 
tion at  all.  We  can  say,  a  tall  man,  a  tall  woman,  a 
tall  spire;  or  tall  men,  tall  women,  tall  spires.  It  is  not 
necessary ,to  alter  the  word  tall,  either  as  to  number, 
case,  or  gender.  This  useless  variation  was  also  dis- 
carded. 

Again,  in  Anglo-Saxon,  adjective  pronouns  were  de- 
clined like  nouns  adjective,  and  varied  in  number,  case, 
and   gender.     Mine,  for   example,  in   English  has  no 
variation  whatever.     We  say  the  house  is  mine,  the 
5 


50  SIMPLIFICATION  OF  INFLEXIONS. 

field  ia  mine,  the  horse  is  mine,  or  the  houses  are  mine, 
the  fields  are  mine,  the  horses  are  mine.  The  word 
viine,  however  ai)plied,  has  no  variable  termination.  It 
is  true  we  say,  mi/  house,  using  mi/  before  a  noun ;  but 
the  word  mi/  is  in  a  difierent  position,  and,  though  mine 
in  the  position  of  mi/  would  now  be  somewhat  anti- 
quateJ,  still  there  is  no  impropriety  in  using  7nine,  as 
7ni'ne  host,  mine  arm. 

But  in  the  Ani^lo-Saxon  we  had 


Singular. 

Plural. 

Miutr. 

F.>m. 

Miisr.      Fcm.      Netit, 

Nora.  Mim. 

Mine. 

\oin.  Mine. 

(ten.    Minnes. 

Miiiro. 

<!c'ii.    Min-a. 

l>at.     Mill  11  in. 

.Minre. 

I>iit.     Miii-um. 

Ace.    Mimic. 

Mine. 

Ace.    Min-c. 

Ba,    both.  Tig,  Twenty. 

Sviu.  IJa.  Norn.  Tig. 

Cjcu.    IJegra.  (irii.  Tij^ra. 

Uut.    Baui.  Uat.  'I'ig-um. 

Ace.  lia.  Ace.  'i'ig. 

The  Anglo-Sa.xon  verbs  had  a  greater  variety  of  ter- 
minaliuns  than  the  present  Kiiglish  verbs.  About  the 
lime  of  Chaucer  ihey  had  as.sumed  much  of  their  jire- 
sent  simplicity.  The  final  n  of  vcrb.s  was  dropped  about 
the  liino  of  Henry  \'I1I.;  as,  we  loven,  ye  Iqvcji,  they 
lovcn,  »  e.  wo  lovo,  yo  love,  they  love.  Ben  Jonsou 
roLMcts  the  lo.s8  of  the  final  n: — 

"Albeit  (to  tell  you  my  o|iiniiin),  I  am  persunded  tliat  llif 
lack  hereof,  well  cuDaidcred,  will  he  found  u  great  lilemisli  lit 
our  tongue." 


SUMMARY  OF  CHANGES.  61 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SUMMARY  OF  CHANGES. 

The  first  material  change,  then,  that  took  place  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  was  by  the  introduction  of  the  Dano- 
Saxon,  operating,  more  or  less,  according  to  the  regions 
occupied  by  the  Northmen,     This  Danish  influence 
was  felt  chiefly  from  the  year  900  to  1070.     They  in- 
troduced new  terms,  and  dealt  with  inflexions,  at  their 
own  will  and  pleasure.     After  the  conquest,  the  parti- 
colored Norman-French,  a  mixture  of  the  Gallic  and 
the  language  of  the  Northern    adventurers,  mingled, 
itself,  more  or  less,  witli  the  already  altered  language 
of  the  country,  again  gradually  casting  aside  what  re- 
mained of  inflexions  and  variable  terminations.     This 
process  went  on  from  two  to  three  centuries:  the  or- 
thography of  the  language,  long  after  this  date,  remain- 
ing very  different  from   its  present  state.     From   the 
period  of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  English, 
no  very  material  alteration   has  taken  place.     Verbs 
ending  in  eth^  as  loveth,  hateth,  have  been  changed  into 
loves,  hates,  at  the  same  time  that  the  termination  ed 
has,  in  many  cases,  been  contracted,  so  as  to  coalesce 
with  the  root  of  the  verb,  as  lov^d.     In  some  cases,  such 
a  coalition  would  be  cacophonous  ;  in  others,  as  in  words 
ending   in   ^,  impossible ;   we  cannot  pronounce  hate, 
hated,  hat'd.     Both  these  changes^  as  far  as  the  euphony 
of  the  language  is  concerned,  are  to  be  lamented.     The 


62  SUMMARY  OF  CHAXGES. 

/A,  almost  peculiar  to  the  English,  in  niotlern  European 
languages,  and  lost  to  its  afDnities,  is  the  gentlest  and 
most  pleasing  of  all  sounds.  Take  the  following  pass- 
age: "  Whoso  \oyeth  father  or  mo///er  more  than  me  is 
not  worthy  of  me."  The  th  occurs  five  times  in  this 
short  sentence,  and  the  whole  is  peculiarly  soft  and 
tender.  Change  the  th  of  loveth  into  loves,  and  we  at 
once  pass  from  the  note  of  the  dove  to  the  hiss  of  the 
serpent.  Take,  again,  the  following  beautiful  descrip- 
tion of  the  Pelican  and  her  young,  from  liossewcirs 
"Armourie  of  Honour,"  quoted  by  ^Ir.  Lower: — 

"  The  Pclicanc  forvcntly  lorcth  her  young  hyrdfes,  yet  whon  tlici 
l)pn  hiuif,'litio,  and  hi-frinnc  to  wax  hotte,  they  smite  her  in  the  face, 
and  wtiunde  her,  ami  she  siiu'ttfh  then  a<raine,  ami  tilmcth  them. 
Ami  after  three  days,  she  viounicth  for  tin  in.  and  then  striking 
herself  in  the  side,  till  the  blonde  runne  ont.  she  sparjilcth  it 
upon  theire  bodyea,  and  by  virtue  thereof  thei  quicken  againe." 

The  word  byrdes  should  be  here  pronounced  as  a  word 
of  two  syllables — a  pronunciation  still  found  among 
our  Southern  jicasantry. 

"There  was  there  a  dragon  grete,  ami  grimme. 
FhU  of  fvre.  and  also  very  nime, 
With  a  wide  throto  and  (ttski'K  grete." — }yar(on's  J'octri/. 

The  Lord'.s  prayer,  now  dating  back  more  than  eleven 
hundred  ycar.'^,  gives  us  a  good  specimen  of  early  Saxon. 
It  is  valuable,  as  aflbrding  us  a  subject  for  comparison 
with  the  dilft-Tent  modes  of  expressing  the  same  senti- 
ments, at  diflerent  periods: — 

"  Uron  Fader,  thie  arlh  in  heofna."!. 
Sic  gehal<|ud  thin  nnnia.  to  eymeth 
thin  ric.     .^ic  thin  willa,  sue  is  in 
heofniut,  and  in  eortho.     Vrenhlaf 


SUMMARY  OF  CHANGES.  53 

ofer  wirtlic*  sel  us  to  daeg,  and 
forgcf  us  scylda  urna,  sue  wo  for- 
gefaa  scyldgum  urum,  aud  do  inleadf 
usilh  in  custnung.     An  gefrig  vrich 
from  ifle." 

Of  tbe  date  of  890  :— 

"  Fieder  ure  tliu  whe  eart  in  heofenum. 
Si  thin  nama  gehalgod. 
To  be-cume  then  rice 
Gefurthe  thin  willa  on  eorthan,  swa  swa 
on  heofenum. 

Urne  daegramlicam  hlaf  syle  us  to  daeg, 
And  forgif  us  ure  gyltas,  swa  swa  we  forgifath 
urum  gyltendum. 

And  ne  gelicdde  thu  us  on  costenunge, 
Ac  alys  us  of  yfell.     Sothlice." 

Taking  intermediate  ground  between  the  Saxon  of 
890  and  the  present  day,  we  have  the  following  form 
of  words : — 

"  Our  Fadir  that  art  in  Hevenys. 
Halcwid  be  thi  name, 
Thy  kingdom  come  to. 
Be  thi  wil  in  erthe,  as  in  hevonc. 
Give  to  us  this  day  our  breed  ovir  other  substance, 
And  forgive  to  us  our  dettis,  as  we  forgive  our  dettouris, 
And  lede  us  not  into  temptacioun. 
But  delyvere  us  from  yvel.    Amen." 

In  IGll,  the  only  difference  between  the  Lord's  Prayer 
of  that  date  and  of  the  present  day,  is  in  the  sentence 
"and  forgive  us  our  detles^  as  we  forgive  our  detters," 
some  of  the  other  words  also  being  differently  spelled. 

*  "  Ofer  wirtlic."  translated  super-substantial, 
t  "  Inlead,"  not  lead. 

5* 


64  SUMMARY  OF  CHANGES. 

"Wc  come  then  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Gotliic  is 
the  root  from  which  branched  out  a  variety  of  dialects, 
each  undergoing  certain  changes  in  the  course  of  time, 
according  to  circumstances:  that  England  having  be- 
come the  battle-field  of  the  Gothic  tribes,  in  after  ages, 
these  dialects  became  amalgamated ;  and  that  out  of 
that  amalgamation  was  formed  the  English  language, 
modified  and  simplified  in  its  construction,  according 
to  the  genius  of  the  people,  and  enriched  from  the 
copious  stores  of  Latin  and  Greek,  in  terms  of  art, 
science,  and  i)hilosophy,  according  to  the  rising  wants 
of  the  age.     It  is  apparent,  also,  that  the  English  lan- 
guage has  lost  its  declensions,  its  variable  termination 
of  nouns,  in  a  great  degree;  its  arbitrary  genders;  its 
inflection  of  adjectives,  both  in  gender,  case,  and  num- 
ber.   iLs  verbs  also  have  been  simplified,  in  their  tenses, 
by  the  general  adoption  of  the  auxiliary  verb,  in  tho 
place  of  variable  terminations.     These  are  important 
changes,  and  render  the  language  much  easier  of  acqui- 
sition.    No  uneducated  man  could  have  written  a  lino 
of  verse  in  Latin  or  Greek  ;  accurate  composition  could 
only  be  the  result  of  rule  and  discipline.     From  the 
comparative  absence  of  variable  terminations  and  in- 
flexions, and  the  substitution  of  accent  for  quantity  in 
the  English  language,  verso  is  frequently  written,  and 
that  of  no  ordinary  merit,  by  those  wlio  possess  but  a 
very  slight  knowledge  of  the  grammatical  structure  of 
the  language. 

A  knowledge  of  tho  I'wiglish  language,  as  it  exists 
at  tlic  present  time,  would  therefore  embrace  a  know- 
ledge of  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  a  certain  extent,  of  (rreek 


NAMES  ilJST  COMMON  USE.  65 

and  Latin,  and  such  French  terms  as  have  established 
themselves  in  our  literature ;  the  Anglo-Saxon  terms 
forming  the  bulk  of  the  language,  in  about  the  propor- 
tion of  2  0^^^^)  ^^^  ^^^^^  constituting,  in  a  very  great 
degree,  the  language  of  the  common  people.  The  pro- 
gress of  discovery  is  every  day  demanding  new  terms, 
in  addition  to  our  vocabulary. 


CHAPTEE  XYI. 

NAilES  OF  THINGS  IN  COMMON  USE  GENERALLY  ANGLO- 
SAXON. 

The  names  of  things  in  common  use  are  almost 
"universally  Anglo-Saxon.  The  names  of  the  days  of 
the  week  are  still  pagan,  and,  with  a  slight  difference  in 
orthography,  are  the  same  as  they  existed  amongst  our 
forefathers  before  they  were  converted  to  Christianity. 
Thus  we  have  Sun-day,  the  day  sacred  to  the  sun ; 
J/oon-day,  or  Monday ;  Tuisco-dsij,  or  Tuesday  ;  Woclens- 
day,  or  Wednesday ;  Thors-daj,  or  Thursday ;  Friga- 
day,  or  Friday ;  /Sealer-day,  or  Saturday. 

The  idols,  to  which  these  days  were  sacred,  were  all 
represented  under  appropriate  emblems.  The  figures 
are  all  given  by  Verstegan,  and  described  in  the  follow- 
ing beautiful  language : — 

"  Moll  of  the  Sun. 
"It  was  made,  as  here  appearetli,  like  half  a  naked  man,  set 
upon  a  piller,  his  face,  as  it  were,  brightened  with  gleames  of  fire, 


56  NAMES  OF  THINGS 

and  hoUling  with  both  his  arms  stretched  out  a  burning  wheele 
upon  his  breast,  the  wheclc  lieing  to  si},'nify  the  course  which  ho 
runneth  round  about  the  worhl,  and  the  fiery  gleamcs  and  bright- 
nt-ss,  the  light  and  hoat  wherewith  he  warmclh  and  comforteth 
the  things  that  live  and  grow." 

"  The  Idoll  of  (he  Moonc. 
"  Tlie  form  of  this  idoll  seemeth  very  strange  and  ridiculous ;  for, 
being  made  for  a  woman,  shee  hath  a  short  coat,  like  a  man ;  but 
m(.re  strange  it  is  to  sec  her  hnod,  with  such  two  long  cares.  The 
hi'lding  of  a  moonc  before  her  breast  may  seem  to  have  been  to 
expresse  what  she  is ;  but  the  rea.son  of  her  chapron,  with  long 
eares,  as  also  her  short  coat,  and  pyked  shooes,  1  do  not  find." 

"  The  Idoll  Tuisco. 

"The  next  unto  the  idolls  of  the  two  most  apparent  planets, 
was  the  idoll  of  Tuisco,  the  most  antient  and  peculiar  god  of  all 
the  (Jerman-J,  here  described  in  his  garment  of  a  skinne,  accttrding 
to  the  most  antient  manner  of  the  (Jermans'  clothing.  Of  this 
Tuisco,  the  first  and  chiefest  man  of  name  among  the  Germans, 
and  after  whom  they  do  call  themselves  Tuytchen,  that  is, 
I>iiyt<hes  or  linytch-pcople,  I  have  already  spoken  in  the  first 
chapter ;  as  also  shewed  how  the  day,  which  yet  amongst  us  ro- 
taineth  the  name  of  Tuesday,  was  especially  dedicated  unto  the 
adoration  and  service  of  this  idoll." 

Tltis  Tuisco  is  .said  to  liavc  been  tlio  son  of  As.scnez, 
tlio  sou  of  Gomcr,  the  .son  of  Japlict,  and  to  liave  bcou 
tlicfii^twho  cf)nducted  tlic  Gcrnian.s  into  Tuitchhnd. 
The  Ncthcrhindcrs,  chani,Mng  T  into  \\  have  made  it 
DuijichtnniL,  and  \vc  now  call  the  Duytcli,  Dutch.  From 
Tuisco  we  liavo  Tuiscoday,  or  Tuesday. 

"  The  Hull  ^Yudcn. 
"Woden  was  the  military  god  of  the  Saxons.     He  was,  while 
sometime  he  lived  union^'st  them,  u  most  valiant  and  victorious 
prince,  and  cuptuine,  and  his  idoll  was,  after  his  death,  honoured, 


IN  COMMON  USE.  57 

prayed,  and  sacrificed  unto,  that,  by  his  ayde  and  furtherance, 
they  might  obtaine  victory  over  their  enemies  ;  which,  when  they 
-had  obtained,  they  sacrificed  unto  him  such  prisoners  as  in  bat- 
tell  they  had  taken.  The  name  "Woden  signifies  furious,  and  in 
like  sence  we  yet  retaine  it,  saying,  when  one  is  in  a  great  rage, 
that  he  is  tvood,  or  taketh  on  as  if  he  were  ivood ;"  from  tvedan, 
to  rage,  wod,  mad. 

Chaucer  uses  the  word  in  this  sense: — 

"  He  loved  to  drinke  strong  wine,  as  rede  as  blood, 
Then  wolde  he  speke  and  crie  as  he  were  tvood." 

An  abjuration  of  Woden  preceded  baptism  in  Ger- 
many, on  conversion  to  Christianity. 

"  Ek  forsakno  diabole,  ende  Woden." 
"  I  forsake  the  Devil,  and  Woden." 

"  The  Idoll  Thor. 

"  This  great  reputed  god,  being  of  more  estimation  than  many 
of  the  rest  of  like  sort,  though  as  little  worth  as  any  of  the 
meanest  of  that  rabble,  was  majestically  placed  in  a  very  large 
and  spacious  hall,  and  there  set,  as  if  he  had  reposed  himself 
upon  a  covered  l>ed. 

"  On  his  head  he  wore  a  crowne  of  gold,  and  round  in  corapasse 
above,  and  about  the  same,  were  set  or  fixed  twelve  bright,  bur- 
nished, golden  stars,  and  in  his  right  hand  he  held  a  kingly 
scepter. 

"lie  was  of  the  seduced  pagans  beleeved  to  be  of  most  mar- 
vellous power  and  might,  yea,  and  that  there  were  no  people, 
throughout  the  whole  world,  that  were  not  subjected  unto  him, 
and  did  not  owe  him  divine  honour  and  service. 

"  That  there  was  no  puissance  comparable  to  his :  his  dominion, 
of  all  others,  most  farthest  extending  itsclfe,  both  in  heaven  and 
earth. 

"  That  in  the  air  he  governed  the  winds,  and  the  clouds  ;  and 
being  displeased  did  cause  lightning,  thunder,  and  tempests,  with 
excessive  raiue,  haile,  and  all  ill  weatiier.  Hut  being  well  pleased 
with  the  adoration,  sacrifice,  and  service  of  his  suppliants,  he 


68  NAMES  OF  THINGS 

then  bestowed  upon  tlu-ra  most  fair  and  seasonable  weather,  and 
caused  corn  ulnnnhintly  to  jrrow.  as  also  all  sorts  of  fruits,  &c., 
and  kept  away  from  them  the  plague,  and  all  other  evil  and  in- 
fe<tious  diseases.  Of  the  weekly  day,  which  was  dedicated  to  his 
peculiar  service,  we  yet  retain  the  name  of  77i»/Mlay,  the  which 
the  Panes  and  Swedians  doc  yet  call  77i<»r.sday.  In  the  Nether- 
lands, it  is  called  r/iMnt/er.s-daph,  which  Iteinc;  written  according 
to  our  Knglish  orthofrra])hy  is  7Vi»»(/»;-.s-day,  wherelty  it  may  ap- 
pear that  they  antiently  therein  intended  the  day  of  the  pod  of 
thundi-r;  ami  in  some  of  our- old  Saxon  liookes.  1  find  it  to  have 
been  written  'I'hunres-deag.  So,  as  it  seemeth.  tliat  the  name  of 
Thor,  or  Thur,  was  abbreviated  of  Thunre,  which  we  now  write 
thunder." 

Til  the  North  of  KiighiiKl,  the  old  term  still  remains 
— thunre,  and  not  thmuler. 

"  The  Idoll  Friija. 

"The  idoll  Friga  represented  both  sexes.  In  her  right  hand 
she  hehl  a  drawn**  sword,  and  in  her  left  a  bow.  si^Miifying  thereby 
that  Women,  as  well  as  men.  should,  in  time  of  necde,  be  ready  to 
fight.  Some  honoured  her  for  a  god.  and  some  for  a  go<ldes.se,  but 
fihe  was  ordinarily  taken  rather  for  a  goddesse  than  a  god.  and 
u  i»  n'putfd  the  giver  of  peace  and  ])lenty,  as  also  the  tau.ser  and 
iii.iUcr  of  love  and  amity,  and  of  the  day  of  her  special  adoration 
wi'  yet  retain  the  name  of  I-'riday ;  and  as.  in  the  order  of  the 
dayes  of  the  week,  Thursday  commctli  iMtwciiic  Wednesday 
an<l  Friday,  so  (as  Olaus  Magnus  noteth),  in  the  septentrional 
regions,  where  they  made  the  idoll  Thor  silting  or  lying,  in  a 
gnat  hall,  ujton  a  covered  bed,  they  also  placed  on  the  one  side 
of  him,  the  idoll  Wndm,  and  on  the  other  side  the  idoll  Fn'tja  ; 
and  her  day  our  Saxon  ancestors  called  Kriga-deag,  from  whence 
ttur  name  now  of  Fri«lay  in  deed  commeth." 

"  The  Idoll  Scaler. 

"The  la.st,  to  make  up  the  number  seven,  was  the  idoll  Seater, 
fondly  of  some  .snpiiosed  to  be  Saturn. 

"  First,  on  n  piller  was  placed  a  ])earih.  on  the  sharpe  prickled 
backo  whereof  stood  this  idoll,     lie  was  leane  of  visage,  having 


IN  COMMON  USE.  59 

long  haire  and  a  long  beard,  and  was  bare-licaded  and  b&i«-footed. 
In  his  left  hand  he  held  up  a  -wheele,  and  in  his  right  he  carried 
a  paile  of  water,  wherein  were  flowers  and  fruites.  His  long 
coat  was  girded  unto  him,  with  a  towel  of  white  linnen.  His 
standing  on  the  sharpe  finnes  of  this  fish,  was  to  signify,  that  the 
Saxons  for  their  serving  him  should  passe  stedfastly  and  without 
harm  in  dangerous  and  diCQcult  places.  By  the  wheele  was  be- 
likened  the  kuit  unity  and  conjoined  concord  of  the  Saxons,  and 
their  concurring  together  in  running  one  course.  By  the  girdle, 
which  with  the  wind  streamed  from  him,  was  signifled  the  Saxon's 
freedome.  By  the  paile  with  flowers  and  fruites  was  declared, 
that  with  kindly  rain  he  would  nourish  the  earth,  to  bring  forth 
much  fruites  and  flowers.  And  the  day  unto  which  we  yet  give 
the  name  of  Sater-day,  did  first  receive,  by  being  unto  him  cele- 
brated, the  same  appellation." 

Out  of  seven  days  in  the  week,  three  correspond,  in 
the  origin  of  their  names,  with  the  Roman  calendar; 
Dies  solis,  Sun-day ;  Dies  lunoe.  Moon-day ;  Dies  Saturni, 
Saturn-day;  Seater-day,  Saturday. 

We  have,  however,  discarded  all  the  Anglo-Saxon 
designations  of  the  months,  and  adopted  the  Roman. 
The  origin  of  some  of  the  latter  may  be  found  in  the 
Fasti  of  Ovid.  Different  explanations  are  given  of  the 
names  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  months,  which  probably 
arise  from  the  different  periods  to  which  they  have 
reference.  In  a  comparatively  unsettled  social  system, 
different  names  might  also  prevail  in  different  districts, 
as  in  the  social  partitions  of  hundreds,  wapentakes, 
lathes,  &c.,  already  noticed. 

The  Sax"ons  had  many  other  idols,  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  particularize,  as  no  trace  of  them  is  left  in 
the  language.  Of  the  fearful  realit}^,  which  entered  into 
the  belief  of  our  forefathers  in  these  false  gods,  we  have 
a  proof  in  the  fact  of  tlieir  offering  human  sacrifices  to 


60  NAMES  OF  PLACES. 

them  for  particular  purposes,  llarold  the  First,  King 
of  Norway,  sacrificed  two  of  his  own  sons,  in  order  to 
obtain  such  a  tempest  at  sea  as  might  disperse  tlie  fleet 
of  Harold,  King  of  Denmark. 

There  is  a  peculiarity,  also,  in  our  mode  of  reckon- 
ing time,  which  has  come  down  to  us  from  our  SaxoQ 
forefathers.  We  reckon  time,  in  some  cases,  by  m'fjhts, 
and  not  by  days.  We  say,  for  instance,  this  day  se'h- 
ni)/ht,  that  is,  this  day  seven  nights.  We  also  say,  this 
day,  or  io-morrow /o)-Cni'jht,  that  is,  this  day  or  to-mor- 
row fourteen  nights. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

NAMES  OF  PLACES. 

The  names  of  places  are  generally  to  be  looked  for 
in  Anglo-Saxon.  In  our  researches  here,  we  must  pay 
little  regard  to  the  spelling.  The  sound  deducible  from 
the  letters  must  be  our  guide.  It  has  already  been 
stated,  that  the  word  give  is  spelled  in  thirteen  dilVcrent 
ways.  Even  later  than  the  time  of  Elizabeth  there 
was  no  settled  orthography.  The  diflerent  members  of 
the  same  family  would  si)ell  the  family  name  in  difler- 
ent ways.  Dr.  Chandler,  as  quoted  by  Lower,  states 
that  Waynfletc  had  seventeen  modes  of  orthograj»hy ; 
and  Dugdale,  in  his  collections  respecting  the  family  of 
Mainwaring  of  l*eovcr,  in  Cheshire,  has  the  extraordi- 
nary number  of  181  variations  of  that  single  name. — 


NAMES  OF  PLACES.  61 

(Lower.)  The  same  uncertainty  prevailed  in  the  names 
of  places,  and  frequently  they  are  only  to  be  dimly 
.perceived.  There  are  a  few  general  terms,  however, 
which  will  always  be  found  useful  in  discovering  the 
origin  of  the  names  of  places. 

The  names  of  places  ending  in  chester,  or  caster, 
denote  that  a  Roman  camp  has  been  situated  there, 
being  derived  from  the  Latin  castra ;  as,  Silchester,  in 
Hants ;  Colnchester,  in  Essex ;  Lancaster,  corrupted 
from  Lunecaster,  a  camp  on  the  river  Lune,  as  Coln- 
chester is  a  camp  on  the  river  Colne;  Winchester,  the 
Roman  term  of  which  was  Yindonia.  The  V  has  been 
changed  into  W,  as  in  the  case  of  vinum  into  wine. 
From  this  we  get  Win,  which,  with  the  addition  of 
Chester,  indicating  a  camp,  makes  Winchester. 

Burg,  Burh,  Byrig,  Bury,  a  town,  a  fort,  a  city;  as, 
Canterbury,  Salisbury,  Scarborough,  a  town  on  a  rock 
or  Scar. 

Bourne,  a  brook ;  as,  Selbourue,  Titchbourne,  Sher- 
bourne,  &;c.  "  Ofer  tha  bur-nan  Cedron,"  over  the 
brook  Cedron,  John  xviii.  1,  Places,  into  the  names 
of  which  this  word  enters,  under  difl'orent  modifica- 
tions, are  situated  on  brooks.  The  secondary  significa- 
tion of  this  word  is  a  boundary,  because  streams  form 
the  natural  boundaries  of  a  region. 

Butts.  When  the  bow  formed  the  chief  weapon  in 
war,  many  towns  and  villages  had  a  field  set  apart  for 
practice,  usually  called  the  butts  or  iw^^close ;  the  butt 
being  the  object  at  which  the  arrow  was  discharged. 
Hence,  we  say  that  a  man  is  made  the  butt  of  the  com- 
pany, that  is,  an  object  or  mark  for  the  discharge  of 
pointed  jokes. 
C 


G2  .NAMKS  OF  PLACES. 

By,  hi/e,  Danish,  a  town,  or  village,  or  habitation,  as 
alrca<ly  observed. 

Bollom,  a  deep  valley;  a  depression  of  the  ground. 
Mr.  Lower,  on  the  authority  of  "an  intelligent  cor- 
respondent," supposes  the  personal  name  Ramshottom 
to  be  a  corruption  of  the  word  Ronishottom.  Rovis,  in 
Lancashire,  signifies  a  kind  of  wild  onion,  which  is 
produced  in  two  bottoms  or  dales  near  Bury,  in  Lan- 
cashire, in  great  abundance;  hence  Romshutlom,  cor- 
rupted to  Rwinshoitom.  Ramps  is  the  term  applied  to 
this  filthy  pasture- weed,  in  the  northern  counties.  Ram, 
however,  enters  into  the  composition  of  other  names  of 
])laces;  as,  i?a?«sdale  in  Hants,  /j;a7>jsgate  in  Kent, 
where  the  same  etymology  would  not  perhaps  apply. 

Car,  a  marshy  place,  where  alders  grow. 

Can%y  or  Cairn,  a  Druidical  heap  of  stones. 

Coombe,  Comlef  a  wooded  valley.  Coombe  Hurst,  a 
wooded  valley  in  Surrey. 

"  Sylvun  Conihcs." — Wonlmrurth. 

Croft,  a  small  inclosure.  A  poor  man  described  pro- 
verbially— 

"  lie  had  nc  ttff,  nc  croft," 

{.  e.  homestead  or  field. 

Cross  had  references  to  places  at  which  a  cross  was 
erected,  on  tiie  junction  of  dillcrent  ways,  to  point  out 
the  pruj»er  road,  ('rossns  were  in  use  in  Mexico  for 
this  purpo.se,  before  the  introduction  t)f  Christianity, 
and  arc  in  use  in  China,  We  also  apply  the  term  to 
roads  that  cro^a  each  other.  The  erection  of  a  cross, 
in  any  particular  locality,  would  be  sullicient  to  give 


NAMES  OF  PLACES.  63 

a  name  to  a  place ;  as,  Waltham  Cross,  Charing  Cross, 
a  cross  having  been  erected  at  the  village  of  Charing. 
■  Croshy-Ravensicorlh,  that  is,  Cross-bj  Eavenswortli ; 
worth,  according  to  Mr.  Bosworth,  signifying  land,  a 
farm,  street,  public  way,  hall,  palace.  According  to 
1s\y.  Lower,  some  etymologists  have  given  it  the  con- 
venient signification  of  j^^^^c^  >  if  so,  Crosby-Ravens- 
worth  would  signify  the  Cross  by  the  Raven's  Place. 

Dale^  a  valley ;  as,  Kendal,  a  corruption  of  Kent 
dale:  the  river  Kent  running  down  the  valley,  and 
dividing  the  town  Kendal;  Ravenstouedale,  the  dale 
of  the  Raven's  Stone;  Sleddel,  Slate-dale;  Kirby 
Lonsdale,  Kirk  by  Lune's  dale. 

Dene^  Deane,  and  Den  have  all  the  same  origin,  and 
signify  a  valley  or  low  place: — 

"  Ale  denu  bytli  gefylled." 

"  Every  valley  shall  be  filled." — Luke  iii.  5. 

Singly,  it  is  generally  spelled  deane  or  dean,  as  Dean, 
in  Hants,  also  Bramdean ;  in  composition,  sometimes 
den,  as,  Arden,  Ardean,  in  Warwickshire. 

Donne^  Don,  Dun,  Dune,  and  Down,  as  we  now  write 
it,  are  all  the  same.  The  term  signifies  a  hill,  stretch- 
ing out  in  a  gentle  slope.  Sjnd-banks  in  Holland  are 
called  dunes.  Dunkirk  had  its  name  from  its  situation 
on  the  dunes  or  sand-banks.  We  still  have  the  terra 
downs  in  the  South  Downs. 

Fell,  in  the  northern  countries,  a  term  applied  to 
mountains  ;  Slainmore,  Stan,  Stone-moor  Fells. 

Ford,  the  passage  of  a  river,  as  Oxford,  ILart/ord  ; 
not  to  be  confounded  with  fort,  as  Rochfort. 


64  NAMES  OF  PLACES. 

Frith^  from  fretmn.  In  England,  a  plain  amiilst 
wockIjj:  in  Scotland,  a  strait  between  two  lands. 

Granije.  According  to  Lower,  a  large  farm,  kept  in 
hand  by  a  religions  fraternity,  with  buildings,  and  oc- 
casionally a  chapel  attached.  Nicotius  interprets  it  a 
bum.     It  is  usually  applied  to  a  lone  farm-house. 

Gill,  a  stony  watercourse  or  ravine. 

Ham,  a  very  common  termination  to  the  names  of 
places,  signifies  home;  in  the  Southern  counties  pro- 
nounced hojiie,  but  in  the  North  retaining  much  of 
its  original  pronunciation,  as  if  written  licam.  The 
original  form  still  remains  in  AaTnlet,  and  in  the  various 
compounds  of  liam  ;  as  DenZ/a???,  Ded//aw,  Ilig/mTn, 
Lang//flw,  and  also  in  SoutAa???pton  or  Soutli/<a7n-ton, 
Soulh-home-town,  compared  with  Winchester,  the  seat 
of  some  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  or  compared  with 
Kngland  at  large;  so  also  7/a///tunscirc  abbreviated  to 
JIam\MA\\vQ.  In  Swedish,  it  is  written  hem;  Danish, 
hian  ;  German,  hcim,  from  heimcn,  to  cover;  originally 
signifying  a  place  of  shelter. 

Hatch,  a  flood-gate,  such  as  used  in  the  irrigation  of 
meadows,  a  gate,  or  door,  on  a  game- warren. 

Hide,  as  much  land  as  one  plough  can  plough,  in  a 
year,  with  one  team.        . 

Jloxifjh,  a  green  j)lot  in  a  valley. 

How,  according  to  Lye  and  Bosworth,  a  mountain  ; 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Itow. 

Holm,  plain  grassy  ground,  by  the  side  of  a  river. 

Jl'jff,  a  li.iiiging  wood,  a  grove. 

"  Abraham  plautodc  a-nnc  holt."— 6^en.  xxi.  .33. 


NAMES  OF  PLACES.  65 

JToIi-hana,  a  wood-cock. 

ffurst,  or  JTi/rst,  a  wood;  as,  Tjcehurst,  Crowhurst, 
.'Ba.nghurst,  Yewhurst 

Ing,  a  meadow,  field,  tract  of  land;  as,  Reading,  Red- 
ing, Birmingham,  Broom-zn^r-ham  or  home,  Godalming, 
Basing:  Banish,  Anglo-Saxon,  and  German. 

Knoll,  the  top  of  a  hill, 

Lee,  high,  lea,  lye,  all  have  the  same  significatidn,  and 
denote  pasture-ground.  We  say  pasture-ley,  clover-lea, 
sainfoin-lea.  It  meets  us  under  various  combinations; 
as,  Bramley,  Bramhle-\ej,  Oakley,  OaJc-ley,  Bromley, 
Broom-ley,  A^titley,  Nut-ley.  This  word  so  frequently 
forms  a  surname  in  Cheshire,  that  Mr.  Lower,  on  the 
authority  of  a  correspondent,  gives  the  following  pro- 
verb— 

"As  many  Leighs  as  fleas,  Massies  as  asses,  and  Davenports 
as  dogs'  tails." 

Ness,  a  promontory  projecting  like  a  nose. 

Pen,  the  top  of  a  hill.     British. 

Slack,  a  depression  between  two  hills ;  the  form  as- 
sumed by  a  slack  rope. 

iScar,  a  word  common  in  the  North,  to  denote  a 
craggy  eminence  or  precipice.  /Scarborough,  a  town 
upon  a  scar. 

jShaw,  a  small  wood  or  coppice ;  applied  often  to  sig- 
nify a  broad  hedge-row. 

Shot,  a  keep. 

Sloiu,  sloughj  a  miry  place. 

Spilal.  Spital  Inn,  on  the  wildest  part  of  Stainmore 
Fells:  an  abbreviation  of  hospital,  a  place  for  the  recep- 

6* 


66  NAMifiS  OF  PLACES. 

tion  of  strangers,  Uospitium,  Lat.  Such  a  place  was 
necessary  for  the  shelter  of  travellers  in  that  stormy 
region. 

Sttd^  Dutch,  SlaJ,  a  station.     Ilomestead. 

Strand,  the  bank  of  a  river,  as  the  Strand  in  London. 

Staple,  as  Barnstable,  Barnstaple,  a  place,  a  mart  for 
merchandise,  where  goods  were  placed  under  the  King's 
staple.  See  "  Halle  of  John  llall,"  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Duke. 

/SVo^-e  signifies  in  itself  a  place,  and  is  generally  com- 
bined with  some  other  description,  or  distinctive  word; 
as,  Woodstock,  Wode-stoc,  a  woody  place.  Laverstoke, 
Alverstoke,  Basingstoke. 

In  the  word  Basingstoke,  we  have  stolce  as  a  generic 
term,  and  liasing  as  a  distinctive  term.  By  Basing- 
stoke is  meant  a  place  near  Basing;  as,  in  other  cases, 
it  is  said,  Stoke-by-Clare,  Stoke-by-Nayland.  So,  in 
this  case,  it  might  have  been  said,  Stokcby-Basing,  or 
Basingstoke.  Basing  might  perhaps  derive  its  name 
from  Baize-Ing,  or  Baize  meadow,  supposing  that  par- 
ticular kind  of  cloth  to  have  been  exposed  there.  But 
the  word  Basing  occurs,  as  a  whole  term,  in  Joshua  vii. 
21,  in  the  sense  of  cloak  or  garment,  as  "  Ic  gc«eah, 
wurm-readne  basing,"  I  saw  a  shell-fishreddcned  cloak 
— a  purple  cloak,  dyed  from  the  shell-fish — a  l^abylon- 
ish  garment — ifwr/n  signifying  a  shell-fish,  the  fish  from 
which  the.  celebrated  i)urple  of  old  was  obtained. 
Wurm-readne  thread,  .scarlet  thread. 

Tlirop,  a  village;  a  name  prevailing  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  sometimes  simj)ly,  sometimes  with  a 
distinctive  addition  ;  as  Bishops-Morp,  Mil-///o/7),  by  me- 


NAMES  OF  PLACES.  67 

tathesis  Milthrop.  Crackenthorp,  by  the  same  change 
Crackenthrop.  Anglo-Saxon  ^/iorp,  Dutch  dorp,  Ger. 
dorf,  Swedish  and  Danish  torp,  Fris.  therp.  We  need 
not  be  surprised  that  this  word  should  have  established 
itself  over  various  parts  of  England,  as  it  prevailed  in 
all  the  countries  of  our  progenitors, 

TIacalte,  used  in  the  North,  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Dutch  hwoit,  a  pasture. 

Tor,  a  rock  having  a  castellated  form.  In  this  sense, 
it  occurs  in  Derbyshire,  where  we  meet  with  so  many 
heights  having  the  form  of  towers,  or  castles.  This 
word  occurs  in  fifteen  diflerent  languages  in  the  same 
sense,  though  with  variations  in  spelling.  Turris  in 
Latin,  in  English  tower. 

Ton,  tun,  a  garden,  or  small  inclosure,  a  town,  a 
number  of  habitations  within  prescribed  limits.  Wyrt- 
tun,  a  garden  of  worst,  or  herbs.     Luke  xiii.  19. 

Wick,  wich.  Dan.  vig,  and  Swedish  vig,  a  bay, 
Dutch  ivyh.  A  creek  formed  by  the  curve  of  a  river, 
a  station  or  place  of  retreat.  Its  meaning  will  therefore 
vary  with  attendant  circumstances;  as  Aln-i^'?c7i,  a  dwell- 
ing on  the  Aln  ;  GrQQXv-ivic,  or  wich,  the  green  village ; 
Gypes-mc,  J^s-wich,  the  curve  of  the  river  Gipping; 
l^OT-iuich,  north  village;  Sciud-ivich,  sand  village;  Jfere- 
wic,  Her-w'ic,  JTar-wich,  the  army  station,  from  here, 
an  army ;  Ing-here,  In-here,  native  troops ;  Ut-here, 
Out-here,  foreign  troops;  Gangend-here,  walking  troops, 
infantry  ;  llidende  here,  riding  troops,  cavalry. 


68 


r  A  11  T    II. 

nilLOLOGICAL. 


SECTION  I. 


(>\  III  K  CENIUS  AXD  Cn  AKACTER  OF  TFTE  EXGUSH 

LAN  (jU  AGE. 

CUATTER  I. 

TUK  PRINCIPLES  ON  WHICH  LAXGL'AGES  ARE  FORMED. 

Ox  looking  at  a  landscape,  diversified  as  it  may  be 
by  trees  and  shrubs,  we  are  not  at  the  first  impulse 
disposed  to  go  back  in  our  researches,  and  to  find  fault 
with  it  simjily  because  it  may  not  consist  of  purely 
indigenous  productions.  The  poplar  of  Ontario  or  of 
Lombardy,  the  oak  of  Africa,  the  cypress  of  the  East, 
llie  cedar  of  Jjcbanon,  by  the  peculiarities  of  their 
growili  and  foliage  when  mixed  with  the  natives  of  the 
forest,  may  all  tend  to  produce  one  general  and  har- 
monious cflect.  To  the  eye  of  the  savage,  or  half-civil- 
ized man,  these  additional  ornaments  were  not  wanted; 
but  the  uses,  the  conveniences,  and  the  taste  of  a 
more  refined  age  have  adopted  them,  and  they  con- 
.linue  to  fiouri.sh  in  a  soil  congenial  with  tlieir  habits 


FOKMATION  OF  LANGUAGES.  69 

and  properties.  It  is  just  so  with  language.  All  lan- 
guages must  originally  have  been  scanty;  in  the  first 
place,  simply  expressive  of  visible  objects.  Grammati- 
cal inflexions,  philosophical  principles,  and  subtle  dis- 
tinctions must  have  been  unknown.  Language  would 
not  outstrip  the  wants  of  a  community.  Words  would 
not  be  invented  to  express  things  which  did  not  visibly 
exist,  or  combinations  of  ideas  which  the  human  mind 
had  not  yet  formed.  We  must  first,  therefore,  contem- 
plate language  in  its  skeleton  condition,  imperfectly 
jointed,  uncovered  with  the  softer  integuments,  not  yet 
moulded  into  symmetry  and  just  proportions,  not  yet 
graced  by  the  poet's  fancy,  warmed  by  the  patriot's 
ardor,  enriched  from  the  vast  stores  of  nature  and  of 
science,  or  regulated  by  logical  and  grammatical  cri- 
ticism. If  the  word  tree,  or  any  equivalent  term, 
expressed  that  vegetable  production  which  we  now 
understand  by  the  term  tree,  a  repetition  of  the  word 
{tree,  tree,  tree)  would  express  a  forest,  till  some  arbi- 
trary word  should  be  invented  expressive  of  a  number 
of  trees  as  a  whole.  The  Australian  savage,  sent 
back  along  the  trail  to  recover  a  young  man  who  had 
been  left  to  perish  in  the  bush,  in  giving  an  account  of 
his  journey,  does  not  say  that  he  proceeded  so  many 
hours  along  the  sea-shore,  and  so  many  hours  through 
the  wood ;  but  he  travelled  by  the  sea,  by  the  sea,  by 
the  sea,  or  through  the  wood,  through  the  wood,  on  the 
plain,  on  the  plain,  leaving  you  to  form  an  opinion  of 
the  extent  of  each  region  over  which  he  travelled  by 
the  number  of  repetitions;  the  whole  forming  a  simple 
and  interesting  topographical  description  by  this  child 


70  PRINCIPLES  ON  WHICH 

of  the  wiltlemcss.  As  mankind  advanced  in  civiliza- 
tion, convenience  would  dictate  abbreviation,  and  the 
adoption  of  arbitrary  forms  of  speech  ;  and  language 
would  thus  gradually  become  more  artificial.  As  new 
objccla  and  new  combinations  of  ideas  presented  them- 
eelvea,  new  terms  would  be  invented  ;  and  the  language 
would  thus  become  more  copious  and  more  connected. 
The  language  of  a  pastoral  people  would  be  confined  to 
the  objects  with  which  they  were  surrounded  ;  but,  if 
this  people,  by  conquest  or  any  other  cause,  should 
become  identified  with  a  maritime  people,  the  common 
language  would  be  a  mixture  of  both,  hereafter  to  bo 
modified  and  amalgamated  by  time  and  circumstances. 
The  language  of  every  people  would  thus  be  strongly 
tinctured  by  the  nature  of  the  objects  with  which  they 
were  surrounded.  If  they  were  conversant  with  clouds 
and  storms,  and  those  objects  which  present  the  fea- 
tures of  a  rude  and  harsh  sublimity,  the  language 
would  be  formed  in  accordance  with  those  objects.  If, 
on  the  otlier  hand,  nature  was  presented  under  a  more 
lovely  aspect,  with  sunny  skies  and  green  and  flowery 
valleys, 

"  Antl  sunimpr  poas 
Kiss'd  by  sontlicrn  winds," 

the  language  of  the  people  would  soon  harmonize 
with  these  gentler  spirits  of  nature.  In  obedience 
to  this  principle,  we  find  the  Sclavonic,  German, 
and  Scandinavian  languages  abounding  in  conso- 
nants, »j  clustered  and  coudensctl  as  to  be  dilTundt 
of  enunciation,  except  to  a  native;  the  (Jreeic,  Latin, 


LANGUAGES  ARE  FORMED.  71 

and  Italian,  tlie  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  more  flexible  ; 
the  English  and  French  holding  a  middle  rank.  Lan- 
guages are  thus  subject  to  modification  by  climate  and 
circumstances.  The  Attic  dialect  was  softer  than  the 
Doric,  or  mountain  Greek.  The  Ionic,  the  offspring 
of  the  voluptuous  regions  of  Asia  Minor,  was  softer 
and  more  sinuous  than  the  Attic.  Many  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands  enjoy  a  heavenly  climate,  and  are  clothed 
with  the  most  beautiful  natural  vegetation.  The  lan- 
guage is  moulded  accordingly;  and  whole  chapters  of 
the  New  Testament,  translated  into  some  of  these  lan- 
guages, do  not  possess  one  word  ending  with  a  con- 
sonant, except  the  proper  names  of  the  originals.  Tlie 
English  language,  as  spoken  in  the  North  of  England, 
is  much  harsher,  and  that  by  a  gradual  progression, 
than  that  spoken  in  the  Southern  districts;  and  the 
mountainous  regions  of  the  North  present  us  with  a 
still  ruder  and  harsher  dialect  than  the  plains.  The 
republic  of  Tlascala  was  situated  in  the  high  volcanic 
regions  between  Mexico  and  Vera  Cruz.  The  Tlas- 
calans  were  a  race  of  hardy  and  independent  mount- 
aineers. They  belonged  to  the  same  great  ftimily  as 
the  Aztecs;  they  came  on  the  great  table-land  of 
Mexico  about  the  same  time.  But  "the  Tlascalan 
tongue,"  says  the  national  historian,  "simple  as  be- 
seemed that  of  a  mountain-region,  was  rough  compared 
with  the  polished  Tezcucan,or  the  popular  Aztec  dialect, 
and  therefore  not  so  well  fitted  for  composition."* 

In  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  the  English  language  is 
spoken  with  a  very  peculiar,  and  an  almost  inimitable, 

*  Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico. 


72  PRINCIPLES  ON  WHICH 

attenuated  wbine.  In  Devonshire,  it  is  spoken  with  a 
pplulter,  as  if  the  tongue  were  too  large  for  the  mouth, 
and  the  organs  of  articulation  generally  and  incon- 
veniently turgid.  These  organs  in  man  are  in  fact  of 
the  most  delicate  construction,  and  are  alTccted  by  the 
most  trifling  circumstances.  To  the  same  effect  is  the 
opinion  of  llenselius,  for  which  he  quotes  Olaus  Bori- 
chius,  in  his  Synopsis  Universas  Philologire,  page  30, 
and  quoted  by  Parsons  in  his  "Remains  of  Jaj>het:" — 

"  Instnimenta  onlinariii  (loquomli)  cum  pliira  sint,  pulmones, 
thorax,  iirlcria,  trachea,  &c.,  fieri  non  potest,  ut  (quin)  h;vc  ipsa 
cliiuutis  variatione,  afTiciantur,  alibi  ex  frigore,  alibi  ex  calore, 
hiimore,  siccitatc,  aliiscpie  locorum  proprietatibus  et  in  perigrini- 
tatem  (inamlam  degenerent.  Diversitatis  causa  uon  residct  in 
Boliii  parentibus,  scd  ct  in  cibo,  potu,  acre,  aquis,  ct  locis,  qu6d 
crassiora  ha-c  omnia  obtusiores  plonimi|iie  redtlant  sensus,  ha- 
betiufa  orgaua,  impeditiurem  linjruaiu,  subtiliura,  his  contraria. 
Ilinc  cxperimur  populos  climatil)us  septemtrionis  subjcctos,  ad 
duriusculas,  tardas,  atque  aspcras  inclinarc  dialectos ;  ex  oppo- 
silo,  aulem,  alios,  qui  in  meridiem  verguut,  ad  molliora  atque 
celeriora  loipicndi  genera  magis  proponsos  esse." 

That  i.s, 

"The  organs  of  speech  being  many,  as  the  lungs,  thorax, 
trachea,  ic,  it  is  impossildc  that  they  should  not  be  alTected  l)y 
the  difference  of  climate,  and  degenerate  into. some  corruption; 
in  some  places  from  heat,  in  others  from  cold,  moisture,  dryness, 
and  other  jieciiliarities  of  situation.  The  cause  of  this  diversity 
is  not  in  parents  alone,  but  in  meat,  drink,  water,  antl  situation; 
for  wlien  all  these  arc  of  a  more  dense  nature,  they  for  the  most 
part  make  the  scnsra  duller,  the  organs  heavier,  ami  the  tongue 
more  slow;  when  more  refined,  they  produce  contrary  efTects. 
Hence,  we  find  thai  those  j»r<q)le  who  are  subjected  to  the  inllu- 
i-nco*  of  northern  climates,  inilinc  to  hard,  slow,  and  rough 
diulcctn  ;  and,  on  the  other  han<l.  that  others  who  verge  towards 
the  Houth,  have  a  strong  tendency  to  a  softer  and  a  more  rapid 
way  of  >t|M-nking," 


LANGUAGES  ARE  FORMED.  73 

The  impress  given  in  early  life  to  the  organs  of  utter- 
ance by  these  causes  can  never  be  totally  obliterated. 
Pain,  pleasure,  grief,  joy,  languor,  energy,  every  bodily 
and  mental  affection  and  modification,  has  its  peculiar 
and  appropriate  expression.  The  air  we  breathe,  and 
the  temperature  in  which  we  live,  and  the  objects  with 
which  we  are  surrounded,  acting  from  day  to  day  upon 
body  and  mind,  necessarily  produce  an  effect  upon  the 
organs  of  utterance,  and  mould  them  for  harsher  or 
softer  expression.  To  imagine  the  daring  sea-kings  of 
Scandinavia,  cradled  on  the  ocean  and  rocked  by  the 
storm,  speaking  in  melting  accents  adapted  to  the 
Lydian  lute,  would  be  a  monstrous  and  an  unnatural 
supposition :  it  would  be  as  much  out  of  place  as  if 
Prometheus,  riveted  to  the  bleak  Scythian  rock,  and 
defying  the  vengeance  of  Jove,  should  express  himself 
in  the  liquid  melody  of  an  Anacreontic  love-song. 
Whatever,  therefore,  might  be  the  scanty  vocabulary 
of  the  early  progenitors  of  mankind,  it  is  obvious  that 
it  would  be  amplified  in  some  cases,  and  changed  in 
others,  and  that  generally  it  would  be  modified  in  sub- 
stance, form,  and  enunciation  by  the  influences  of  ex- 
ternal circumstances. 

"  To  form  a  just  notion  of  the  formation  of  language,"  says 
Mr.  Ingram,  "  we  must  consider  man  iu  the  infancy  of  society, 
and  in  the  infancy  of  life.  We  must  divest  him  of  his  eight 
parts  of  speech,  and  hear  him  deliver  his  thoughts  with  little 
more  assistance  than  that  of  a  noun  and  a  verb  only.  We  must 
tear  from  him,  however  reluctantly,  that  gaudy  plumage,  those 
borrowed  wings,  trtta  rttipoivta,  composed  of  soft  and  beautiful 
feathers,  heriuetically  adjusted,  by  which  he  has  been  enabled 
to  soar  with  triumphant  glory  to  the  highest  regions  of  human 
fancy.  We  must  behold  him  a  poor,  defenceless  creature,  sur- 
7 


74  FORMATION  OF  LANGUAGES. 

ronndod  by  wants  which  he  Ptnipples  to  express,  and  npitated 
In-  sensations  which  he  labors  to  communicate.  AVe  shall  then 
see  how  various  causes  of  a  local  and  temporary  nature  have 
influenced  his  ideas,  and  the  language  in  which  he  has  embodied 
them." 

Thus,  then,  the  language  of  a  mere  pastoral  people 
would  difler  widely  from  that  of  a  maritime  people; 
that  of  the  mountaineer  from  that  of  the  iidiabitant  of 
the  plain  ;  that  of  the  wanderer  of  the  burning  desert 
from  that  of  the  rude  and  hardy  barbarian  of  the  cold, 
dark,  and  damp  German  forest.  Language  being  the 
spontaneous  result  of  human  organization,  would  every- 
where be  influenced  by  geographical  position.  The 
wants  of  a  people  merely  pastoral  would  be  few,  and 
easily  expressed :  but  a  jjeople  whose  territories  might 
branch  out  into  mountain,  and  plain,  and  forest;  who 
might  have  their  flocks,  and  herds,  and  corn-Gelds,  and 
vineyards;  their  rivers,  and  lakes,  and  seas,  and  mines, 
and  minerals;  and  who  might  be  daily  establishing 
some  interchange  of  production  with  other  communi- 
ties more  or  less  remote,  would  be  constantly  increas- 
ing their  stock  of  words  by  the  introduction  of  new 
commodities,  and  the  adoi>tion  of  their  concurrent 
names.  The  language  would  thus  not  only  become 
more  copious,  but  more  polished,  divested  of  its  aspc- 
ritie.^,  worn  dc^wn  and  rounded  by  use,  by  collision,  and 
attrition — like  pebbles  on  the  seashore,  tossed  by  every 
returuing  tide. 


LANGUAGE  OF  GREECE.  75 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE   LANGUAGE   OF   GREECE. 

Hence,  from  the  position  of  Greece,  for  example,  we 
should  expect  to  find  a  language  at  once  copious  and 
polished.  Situated  in  the  most  favored  latitude,  and 
enjoying  a  beautiful  climate — intersected  by  bays  and 
creeks,  and  possessing  an  extraordinary  extent  of  sea- 
coast,  compared  with  her  area — broken  into  great 
diversities  of  surface — the  sublimities  of  Olympus  and 
Pindus  contrasting  with  the  fens  of  Bceotia — Greece 
enjoyed  every  variety  of  natural  scenery.  Divided 
again  into  various  independent  communities,  each  fol- 
lowing the  bent  of  its  own  policy,  and  influenced  by 
its  own  peculiar  locality,  she  presents  us  with  the 
hardy  mountaineer,  the  ponderous  Theban,  the  volatile 
and  subtle  Athenian,  the  luxurious  Corinthian,  and  the 
stern  and  frugal  Spartan — in  fact,  with  every  variety 
of  human  character.  Her  seas  were  studded  with  the 
most  beautiful  islands,  yielding  the  choicest  gifts  of  na- 
ture; whilst  she  held  an  easy  intercourse  with  the  whole 
southern  coast  of  Europe,  the  northern  coast  of  Africa, 
and  the  soft  and  luxurious  regions  of  Asia  Elinor.  She 
possessed  a  copious  mythology,  derivative  and  invented 
— gods,  and  goddesses,  and  demigods,  and  nymphs,  and 
fawns,  and  satyrs,  all  favorable  to  the  spirit  of  poetry; 
while,  from  all  the  scattered  Grecian  communities,  and 
their  colonial  dependencies,  the  most  enterprising  spirits 
were  collected  periodically  into  one  focus,  at  the  Olym- 
pian and  Pythian  games.     There  they  joined  in  bodily 


76  LANGUAGE  OF  GREECE. 

and  mental  conflict,  not  for  filthy  bags  of  gold,  but  for 
the  simple  olive  crown,  which,  entwined  around  the 
brows  of  the  victor,  made  him  at  once  the  proudest 
and  the  happiest  man  on  earth.  The  Greek  language 
is  therefore  precisely  what,  from  the  preceding  prin- 
ciples, we  should  have  expected — copious,  as  having 
been  fed  from  various  sources;  subtle  and  complicated, 
and  intriguing,  according  to  the  genius  of  the  people; 
and  harmonious,  as  having  received  the  last  degree  of 
cultivation. 

From  the  facility  with  which  it  admits  of  composi- 
tion of  noun  with  noun,  and  preposition  with  other 
parts  of  speech,  of  combinations  under  the  most  diver- 
sified aspects,  it  is  capable  of  expressing  the  most 
delicate  shades  of  meaning,  the  nicest  points  of  phy- 
sical and  metaphysical  distinctions,  impaljiablc  to  tho 
touch  of  ruder  speech.  In  the  plenitude  of  its  great- 
ness, and  the  age  of  its  purity,  it  was  the  language  of 
pliilosophy  and  science,  of  history,  poetry,  and  oratory 
— of  the  sublimcst  productions  of  human  genius.  It 
enters  greatly  into  the  composition  of  most  European 
languages.  It  is  most  exclusively  the  language  of  our 
sciences;  and  so  it  will  continue  to  be,  till  man  shall 
again  retrograde  to  the  food  of  the  beech-mast,  and  tho 
shelter  of  the  wigwam.  It  is  fortunate  for  mankind 
that  a  language  should  thus  exist,  which  is  the  com- 
mon jiroperty  of  all,  and  j)cculiar  to  none;  that  it 
should  enter,  more  or  loss,  into  tho  constituticm  of  tho 
language  of  all  civili/ed  nations;  and  that  the  nomen- 
clature (jf  the  most  important  sciences  in  which  man- 
kind have  been  engaged,  should   possess  an  identity 


LANGUAGE  OF  GREECE.  77 

quite  independent  of  a  barbarous  and  a  contracted  pro- 
vincialism. Take,  for  instance,  the  science  of  Geology, 
which,  half  a  century  ago,  had  no  words  to  express  its 
.meaning,  and  3'et  it  has  already  arrived  at  such  a  pitch 
of  copiousness  and  variety  in  its  Grecian  nomencla- 
ture, as  to  require  a  distinct  glossary.  We  have  here 
a  science  springing  up  2,000  years  after  the  Greek  lan- 
guage was  spoken  in  its  purity;  and  yet  that  language, 
from  its  extraordinary  capabilities  of  combination, 
has  been  adopted,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  course, 
and  by  general  consent,  to  express  the  varied  condi- 
tions of  the  organic  and  inorganic  matter  of  ages  past 
and  gone,  and  lost  in  the  darkness  of  antiquit\\  We 
need  not,  therefore,  be  surprised  that  a  language  found 
so  convenient  in  expressing  the  terms  of  philosophy, 
of  science,  and  of  arts,  should  be  adopted,  not  only  in 
those  particular  departments,  but  that  it  should  also 
enter  materially  into  the  composition  of  all  languages, 
wherever  Grecian  literature  has  been  cultivated.  Yet 
Greek  in  its  construction  is  not  a  practical,  every-day 
language.  It  is  the  language  of  the  scholar  rather 
than  the  language  of  the  common  people:  it  never 
could  be  the  language  of  an  ordinary  people.  The 
incalculable  variety  of  its  terminations,  its  singular, 
dual,  and  plural  numbers,  its  declensions  and  cases,  its 
capricious  irregularities,  its  arbitrary  genders,  its  verbs 
active,  passive,  and  middle,  barytons,  contracted,  end- 
ing in  ^11,  and  anomalous,  many  of  them  with  their 
participial  terminations  running  through  about  twelve 
hundred  Protean  changes  and  complexities,  render  it  a 

matter  of  astonishment  that  it  should  ever  have  been 

7* 


78  ANGLO-SAXON'  LANGUAGE. 

the  spoken  language  of  a  mixcti  community.  With 
four  variations  only  in  the  English  regular  verb,  and 
•with  a  pronoun  far  more  simple  than  that  of  the  Greek 
language,  we  seldom  take  up  a  book,  even  of  the  last 
century,  without  perpetually  meeting  witli  a  confusion 
of  the  preterite  tense  of  the  verb  with  the  passive  par- 
ticiple, and  of  the  nominative  with  the  objective  case 
of  the  pronoun — and  this,  too,  amongst  the  standard 
authors  of  English  literature.  The  frequent  occurrence 
of  such  errors  constitutes  them  errors  of  ignorance,  and 
not  of  inadvertence. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  ANGLO-SAXON  LANGUAGE. 

In  the  formation  of  the  Greek  language,  we  see 
the  principles  here  laid  down  fully  borne  out.  It  is 
the  language  of  an  acute  and  ingenious  people,  framed, 
enriched,  polished,  and  embellished  under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. The  language  of  our  continental  fore- 
fathers was  framed  under  circumstances  the  very  re- 
verse. It  was  the  language  of  fierce  and  untamed  bar- 
barians, hemmed  in  by  tribes a.s  barbarous  as  themselves, 
cut  oft'  from  foreign  intercourse,  or  roving  as  sca- 
wolvcs  only  to  jtlunder  and  destroy.  It  was  tiie  lan- 
guage of  a  people  conversant  only  with  gloomy  forests 
and  stormy  seas,  and  naturally  j)ronc  to  taciturnity; 
we  may  tijcrefore  expect  a  language  harsh  and  mono- 
syllabic.    A  priori,  we  should  be  led  to  suppose  that 


MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER  OF  ENGLISH.  79 


such  would  be  the  character  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  lan- 
guage. Such  it  was — a  vigorous  stock,  destined  to 
receive  the  grafts  of  more  sunny  and  softer  climes,  to 
'throw  out  its  branches  far  and  wide,  and  to  blossom 
and  bear  abundant  fruit. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 

In  the  simple  specimens  of  our  written  language, 
and  in  common  colloquial  intercourse,  it  is  computed 
that  the  average  of  Anglo-Saxon  words,  compared  with 
those  of  foreign  origin,  is  as  15  to  5  ;  and  Dr.  Ilicks  has 
observed  that,  of  58  words  of  which  the  Lord's  Prayer 
consists,  55  are  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon.  In 
the  opening  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  the  proportion 
is  perhaps  greater,  and  in  the  first  sentence  of  Paradise 
Lost,  out  of  41  consecutive  words,  there  are  but  7  not 
of  Saxon  origin. 

As  a  principle  in  the  construction  of  language,  we 
can  see  no  reason  why  the  simple  name  of  a  thing 
should  not  be  expressed  by  a  monosyllable,  as  tree, 
except  when  the  term  is  expressive  of  the  thing  itself, 
as  cJuitlerer ;  or  why  the  action  of  a  verb  should  not 
be  expressed  in  the  same  way,  as^y,  run,  except  when 
the  sound  is  an  index  to  the  sense,  as  to  babble,  to 
prattle.  Now  this  monosyllabic  principle  is  peculiarly 
characteristic  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language.     In  this 


80 


MONOSYLLABIC  CUAKACTER 


respect  it  diflers  widely  from  the  Greek  and  Latin. 
A  few  comparisons  with  the  Latin  of  terms  in  common 
use  will  fully  establish  this  point.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  parts  of  the  human  body ; — 


EnfflisK. 

Lai  in. 

Enr/ILih. 

Latin. 

Head, 

Caput. 

Hand, 

Mauus. 

Skull, 

Cranium. 

Tliumb, 

I'ollcx. 

Ilttir, 

Crinis. 

Hip, 

Coxendix. 

Eor. 

Auris. 

Knee, 

Genu. 

Tonjrnc, 

Ling-ua. 

Skin. 

Cutis. 

Cheek, 

Gona. 

Throat, 

Guttur. 

Sculp. 

Pericranium. 

Back, 

Tcrgum. 

Brain, 

Cerebrum. 

Arm. 

I^acertua. 

Eye, 

Oculus. 

Finger, 

Digitus. 

Nose, 

Nasus. 

Nail, 

Unguis. 

Lip, 

I.alirum. 

Thigh, 

FiMiuir. 

Chin, 

Montum. 

Toe. 

Digitus  pedis 

Neck. 

CervLx. 

Blood. 

Sanguis. 

IJreast. 

Pectus. 

Nerve, 

Nervus. 

Lungs, 

T'ulmo. 

29. 

TO. 

Eyebrow,  eye-lid,  nostrils,  are  compound  words  from 
mono.syllabic  roots;   tlic  la.st  derived  from  nose,  and 
thyrlian,  to  bore:  thyrl-hus  signifies  a  turner's  shop, 
needlc-thyrel,  a  needle's  eye,  as  in  Mark  x.  28. 
Take  the  senses: — 


Enfflith. 

Latin. 

Enyliith. 

IMin. 

Sight. 

Vi.suH. 

Srarll, 

Olfactus 

Hearing, 

Auditus. 

Taste, 

Gustua. 

Touch, 

'J'actus. 

0. 

12 

Iv fir  mi  ties. 

EnfflUh. 

I^ln. 

English. 

iMlin. 

Lame, 

Claudu.9. 

Deaf. 

Surd  US. 

Blind, 

Ctecus. 

Dumb, 
4. 

Mutus. 
8. 

OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


81 


Domestic  Animals. 


English. 

Latin. 

English. 

Latin. 

Dog, 

Canis. 

Cat, 

Felis. 

Rat, 

Sorex. 

Horse, 

Equus. 

Cow, 

Yacca. 

Pig, 

Porcus. 

Hen, 

Gallina. 

Duck, 

Anas. 

Goose, 

Anser. 

Bull, 

Taurus 

10. 

21. 

Elements^  and  Iheir  Properties. 


English. 

Latin. 

English. 

Lniin. 

Fire, 

Ingis. 

Earth, 

Terra. 

Air, 

Aer. 

Clouds, 

Nubes. 

Water, 

Aqua. 

Hail, 

Grando 

Rain, 

Pluvia. 

Frost, 

Gelu. 

Storm, 

Procclla. 

Wind, 

Vcntus 

Thaw, 

Glaciei  solutio. 

Cold, 

Frigus. 

Heat, 

Fervor. 

14. 

35. 

Hence,  it  appears  that,  in  the  names  of  certain  things 
constantly  before  us,  or  in  common  use,  the  Latin  lan- 
guage requires  146  syllables  to  express  that  which  is 
expressed  in  English  by  63. 

The  same  monosyllabic  principle  is  carried  out  in  the 
construction  of  our  verbs.  Take  the  exercise  of  our 
faculties — to  see,  hear,  taste,  touch,  smell :  the  exercises 
of  the  body — to  walk,  run,  leap,  jump,  hop,  skip,  trip: 
in  the  water,  we  swim,  float,  dive,  sink,  drown;  in  the 
air,  we  soar,  fly.  With  the  hand,  in  gentle  action,  we 
touch,  stroke,  smooth — in  doubtful,  we  strike,  smite, 
pinch — in  violent,  we  thump,  bang,  gripe,  fell,  cuff. 
The  fire  is  said  to  burn,  glow,  parch,  dry,  scorch,  blast, 
scathe.   Water  is  said  to  flow,  glide,  run,  roll,  lash,  dash, 


82  MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER 

splasli,  gush,  rush,  scathe,  foam.  To  mourn,  sigh,  groan, 
weep,  moan,  hiugh,  smile,  smirk,  express  alleclions  of  the 
mind.  In  the  sky,  we  have  sun,  moon,  and  stars.  The 
earth  yields  grass,  corn,  hay,  straw,  wheat,  rye,  oat3. 
Our  ordinary  food  is  bread,  fowl,  flesh,  fish ;  our  fuel 
coal,  wood,  peat,  turf.  These,  and  such  like  words  as 
these,  form  the  staple  of  the  English  language,  and 
more  particularly  of  English  poetry.  The  language 
even  of  a  semi-barbarous  people  has  more  force  and  fire 
than  the  language  of  a  mincing  and  fastidious  refine- 
ment. The  pompous  march  of  blank  verse  admits  the 
accompaniment  of  rolling  and  diftusivo  expression; 
but  energy,  and  condensalion,  and  tenderness  must  be 
sought  for  in  the  pithy,  monosyllabic  Saxon  of  our 
forel'athers.  It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  examples 
on  these  separate  points;  but  it  is  the  monos3'llabic 
principle  which  is  at  present  the  chief  object  of  illustra- 
tion ;  and  under  this  principle  we  find  some  of  the 
most  condensed  and  some  of  the  tendercst  passages  in 
the  English  language.  Take  the  journey  of  the  fallen 
Angels  from  Milton: — 

KXAMIM.KS. 

"Tliiiiiigh  many  a  dark  and  dreary  vale 
Tlipy  passed,  and  many  a  ri';,'it>n  dtilorous, 
O't'f  many  a  frozen,  many  a  fiery  Alp, 

linrks,  rtinn,  l(iki:s,fvns,  bujs,  ilcti^,  and  shiitlis  of  douth — 
A  iiniverHe  of  death." 

Where  is  the  language  that,  in  the  same  number  of 
words,  can  present  such  a  jticturo  of 

"Tir  unreal,  vast,  unbounded  deep 
Uf  horrible  confusiou  1" 


OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  83 

"  That  is  a  step 
On  which  I  must  fall  down,  or  else  o'erlcap, 
For  in  my  way  it  lies.     Stars,  hide  your  fires  ; 
Let  not  light  see  my  black  and  deep  desires. 
.The  eye  winks  at  the  hand.     Yet  let  that  be 
Which  the  eye  fears,  when  it  is  done,  to  see." 

Shakspeare's  Macbeth. 

Here  we  have  fifty-two  words,  and  but  two  dissylla- 
bles ;  one  of  the  two  a  compound  Anglo-Saxon  word, 
o'erleap;  the  other  a  derivative  from  the  Latin,  desire. 

"  Here  lay  Duncan. 
His  silver  skin  laced  with  his  golden  blood, 
And  his  gash'd  stabs  looked  like  a  breach  in  nature 
For  ruin's  wasteful  entrance.     There  the  murderers 
Steeped  in  the  colors  of  their  trade,  their  daggers 
Unmannerly  breeched  with  gore.'"  Macbeth. 

The  silver  skin  laced  with  blood,  the  gashed  stabs,  the 

murderers  steeped  in   the   colors  of  their   trade,   and 

the  daggers  breeched;  that  is,  covered  to  the  very  hilt 

with  gore,  place  the  mangled  body  of  Duncan  and  his 

blood-stained  murderers  before  us  in  all  their  fearful 

realities. 

"  And  by  his  bloody  side 
The  noble  Earl  of  SuiTolk  also  lies. 
Suffolk  first  died,  and  York,  all  haggled  over, 
Comes  to  him,  where  in  go7-e  he  lay  tnsteeped, 
And  takes  him  by  the  beard,  kisses  the  gashes 
That  bloodily  did  yaivn  upon  his  face."  Henry  V. 

The  field  of  battle  also  "  sups  full  of  horrors :" — 

"  For  many  of  our  princes,  woe  the  while  ! 
Lie  droiotd  and  soak'd  in  mercenary  blood." 

"  Their  wounded  steeds 
Fret  fetlock  deep  in  gore,  and  with  ioild  rage 
Yerk  out  their  armed  heels  at  their  dead  masters, 
Killing  them  twice."  Henry  V. 


84  MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER 

Again : — 

"  Peace  !   Peace  1 

Dost  thou  not  see  my  baby  at  my  breast, 

That  sucks  the  nurse  to  sleep?" 

SiiAKsrEARE's  Cleopatra. 

The  gentle,  monosyllabic  language,  and  the  tenderness 
of  the  imagery  in  which  Cleopatra  here  describes  the 
baby  at  her  breast,  the  fatal  asp  in  her  bosom,  contrasted 
with  the  deadliness  of  purpose,  make  the  very  blood 
run  cold. 

Take  the  old  man's  song  from  Wordsworth,  a  beau- 
tiful specimen  of  smoothness  of  versiGcation,  and  sim- 
plicity of  language,  lie  is  supposed  to  be  reclining  by 
the  side  of  a  fountain  on  a  summer's  day. 

"  l)own  to  the  vale  the  water  steers  ; 

Hi)W  merrily  it  goes  ! 
''J'will  murmur  on  a  thousand  yoars, 

Aud  llow  as  now  it  Hows. 

And  here,  on  this  delifrhlful  day, 

I  cannot  choose  Itut  think 
How  oft  a  vigorous  man  1  lay 

lie.side  this  fuuutaiu  briuk. 

My  eyes  are  dim  with  childish  tears. 

My  heart  is  idly  stirr'd 
For  the  sami'  sound  is  in  my  ears 

Which  in  those  days  1  hoard. 

Thus  fares  it  ill  in  our  decay, 

And  yet  the  wiser  mind 
Mourns  less  for  what  it  takes  away. 

Than  what  it  leaves  behind. 


OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  85 

The  blackbird  in  the  summer  trees, 

The  lark  upon  the  hill, 
Let  loose  their  carols  when  they  please, 

Are  quiet  when  they  will. 

With  nature  never  do  they  wage 

A  foolish  strife  ;  they  see 
A  happy  youth,  and  their  old  age 

Is  beautiful  and  free. 

But  we  are  press'd  by  heavy  laws, 

And  often  glad  no  more  : 
"We  wear  a  face  of  joy,  because 

We  have  been  glad  of  yore. 

If  there  be  one  who  need  bemoan 

His  kindred  laid  in  earth, 
The  household  hearts  that  were  his  own. 

It  is  the  man  of  mirth." 

Graceful,  tender,  thoughtful,  melaDcholj.  Contrast  this 
with  the  animated  apostrophe  of  the  same  author  to 
Toussaint. 

"  Toussaint !  the  most  unhappy  man  of  men  ! 
Whether  the  whistling  rustic  bend  his  plough. 
Within  thy  hearing,  or  thy  head  be  now 
Pillow'd  in  some  deep  dungeon's  earless  den. 
O  miserable  chieftain  !  where  and  when 
Wilt  thou  find  patience  ?     Yet  die  not :  do  thou 
Wear  rather  in  thy  bonds  a  cheerful  brow, 
Though  fall'n  thyself,  never  to  rise  again. 
Live  and  take  comfort.    Thou  hast  left  behind 
Powers  that  will  work  for  thee,  air,  earth,  and  skies  : 
There's  not  a  lireathing  of  a  common  wind 
That  will  forget  thee.     Thou  hast  great  allies  : 
Thy  friends  are  exultations,  agonies. 
And  love,  and  man's  unconquerable  mind." 
8 


86  MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER 

Here  we  have  the  expression  of  lofty  and  indignant 
sympathies  contrasted  with  the  tender  simplicity  of  the 
preceding  verses,  each  example  bearing  testimony  to 
the  versatilil}/  and  the  cajmhili(>/  of  the  language. 

The  monosyllabic  principle  of  the  language  per- 
vades those  exquisitely  beautiful  stanzas  composing  the 
"Adieu,  adieu,  my  native  Land,"  by  Lord  Byron. 

"Adieu  !  adieu  !  my  native  shore 
Fades  o'er  the  waters  blue, 
The  iii'jlit-winds  sijh,  the  breakers  roar, 
And  shrieks  the  ivilil  sea-mew. 

Yon  sun,  that  sets  upon  the  sea, 

"NVe  follow  in  his  lli;:ht  : 
Fart-well  awhilt-  to  liiin  and  thee. 

My  native  land,  good  night. 

AVilh  line,  my  hark,  111  swiftly  go 

Athwart  tlic  foainiiijj  hriiie; 
Nor  care  what  land  thou  bear'st  me  to, 

So  not  again  to  mine. 

Welcome,  weli.-orae,  ye  dark  blue  waves  ! 

And  when  ye  fail  my  sight, 
"Welcome,  ye  deserts  an<I  ye  caves  ! 

My  native  land,  good  night  1" 

Take  out  uatice  and  (k.<iert,  which  are  Latin,  and  Adieu, 
French,  and  we  have  English  in  its  purity.  Welcome 
is  a  compound  Knglish  term,  'i'hc  third  and  fourth 
lines  arc  pure  Kngli.sh,  and  paint  the  scene  to  the  very 
life;  iho  soft  siijliiivj  o^  the  nii/hl-ivijvLs^  the  roaring  of 
the  breakers,  and  the  ahriiks  of  the  wild  sea- mew,  cannot 
be  surpassed.     They  full  on  the  ear  like  enchanting 


OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  87 

melody;  and  we  sympathize  in  the  deep  and  tender 
melancholy  of  the  poet. 

In  the  "Destruction  of  Sennacherib,"  we  have  the 
animated  anapaestic  measure  totally  different  from  that 
of  the  "  Adieu,"  but  still  exhibiting  the  same  principle 
ofdiction : — 

"  For  the  angel  of  death  spread  his  wings  on  the  blast, 
And  breathed  in  the  face  of  the  foe  as  he  pass'd  ; 
And  the  eyes  of  the  sleepers  wax'd  deadly  and  chill, 
And  their  hearts  beat  but  once,  and  forever  lay  still. 

"And  there  lay  the  steed  with  his  nostrils  all  wide, 
And  through  them  there  roU'd  not  the  breath  of  his  pride, 
And  the  foam  of  his  gasping  lay  white  on  the  turf, 
And  cold  as  the  spray  on  the  rock-beating  surf." 

Out  of  89  consecutive  words,  79  are  monosyllables,  and 
the  roots  of  all  the  others  monosyllabic;  and  yet  how 
beautifully  and  harmoniously  arc  all  these  monosyl- 
lables linked  into  the  majestic  and  animated  movement 
of  the  anapsestic  measure!  With  the  exception  of 
angel  and  face^  and  those  reduced  in  the  number  of 
syllables,  the  materials  are  Saxon. 

Surely  Lord  Byron,  who  has  adhered  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  terms  so  much  in  his  various  works,  and  with  so 
much  force  and  beauty,  ought  to  be  the  last  man  to 
compliment  other  tongues  at  the  expense  of  his  own: — 

"  I  love  the  language,  that  soft  bastard  Latin, 
Which  melts  like  kisses  in  a  female  mouth, 

And  sounds  as  if  it  should  be  writ  on  satin. 
With  syllables  that  breathe  of  the  sweet  south, 

And  gentle  liquuls  gliding  all  so  pat  in. 
That  not  a  single  accent  seems  uncouth, 

Like  our  harsh,  northern,  whistling,  grunting  guttural, 

Which  we're  obliged  to  hiss,  and  spit,  and  sputter  all." 


88  MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER 

This  very  stanza  alone  is  sufTicieut  to  rescue  the  Eng- 
lish language  from  the  charge  his  lordship  has  en- 
deavored to  fix  upon  it.  If  it  is  expressive  of  harsh- 
ness in  one  part,  it  is  equally  expressive  of  gentleness 
in  another.  The  first  five  lines  arc  full  of  liquids,  the 
gentlest  of  all  sounds.  The  "gentle  li<j[uids  gliding," 
and  the  repetition  of  "th"  in  ''breathe  of  the  sweet 
south,"  are  soft  and  beautifully  descriptive.  The 
smoothness  and  softness  of  the  words  exactly  represent 
the  poet's  meaning.  When  we  come  to  the  word  U7i- 
couth,  and  the  two  following  lines,  Lord  Byron  would 
have  looked  in  vain  to  the  ''sweet  south"  for  terms  so 
applicable  to  the  purpose  which  he  had  in  view  as 
the  terms  harsh,  norlhern,  ichi^flinj,  grunting,  gnttural, 
hiss,  spit  and  spiiltcr.  The  hand  that  possesses  strength 
and  power  may  have  as  delicate  a  touch,  when  needed, 
as  the  hand  of  nervous  debility.  Where  the  poet 
wished  to  represent  the  smooth,  liquid,  gentle,  he  finds 
in  his  own  language  terms  perfectly  adajited  to  his 
purpose;  where  he  wished  to  express  harshness  and 
uncoutliness,  he  is  equally  fortunate.  The  materials  of 
the  Kiigli.sh  language  are  abundant  for  all  purposes, 
and  only  require  a  judicious  application.  It  can  drop 
the  honeyed  words  of  peace  and  gentleness,  and  it  can 
visit  with  its  icithcring,  scathing,  burning,  blasting  curse. 
Wherever  it  breaks  forth  through  the  foreign  fripperies 
with  which  it  is  overlaid,  it  possesses  all  the  strength 
of  elemental  nature. 

Listen  to  the  language  of  contemptuous  scorn : — 

"'riitui  licst,  tliou  tlirciul,  tliou  lliinil)Ie, 
Thou  ynnl,  three  <|UurtiTS,  hiilf-yanl,  i|imrtor,  uiiil, 


OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  89 

Thou  flea,  thou  nit,  thou  winter-cricket,  thou  : — 
Braved  in  mine  own  house  with  a  skein  of  thread ! 
Away,  thou  rag,  thou  quantity,  thou  remnant." 

Taming  of  the  Shrew. 

Hear  the  tender,  the  earnest,  the  irresistible  appeal 
of  Eve,  when  she  is  imploring  the  forgiveness  of  Adam. 
In  its  simplicity  and  feminine  tenderness,  it  descends  to 
the  very  fountain  of  human  sympathies;  and  if  Adam 
had  remained  obdurate  under  such  an  appeal,  he  must 
have  been  more  or  less  than  man : — 

"  Forsake  me  not  thus,  Adam  !     Witness,  Heaven, 
What  love  sincere,  and  reverence  in  my  heart, 
I  bear  thee,  and  unweeting  have  offended. 
Unhappily  deceived  !    Thy  suppliant, 
I  beg,  and  clasp  thy  knees  ;  bereave  me  not 
"Whereon  I  live,  thy  gentle  looks,  thy  aid. 
Thy  counsel,  in  this  uttermost  distress. 
My  only  strength  and  stay  !     Forlorn  of  thee. 
Whither  shall  I  betake  me  ;  where  subsist? 
While  yet  we  live,  scarce  one  short  hour  perhaps. 
Between  us  two  let  there  be  peace !" 

Contrast  this  language  of  repentant,  earnest,  humble, 
and  affectionate  supplication,  with  the  fiery  indignation 
of  the  Welsh  Bard,  as  he  stands  upon  a  rock  (his  gray 
hair  streaming  in  the  troubled  air),  and  looks  down 
upon  the  invaders  of  his  country : — 

"Ruin  seize  thee,  ruthless  king  ! 

Confusion  on  thy  banners  wait  I 
Though,  fann'd  by  Conquest's  crimson  wing. 

They  mock  the  air  with  idle  state. 
Helm,  nor  hauberk's  twisted  mail, 
Nor  e'en  thy  virtues,  tyrant,  sliall  avail 
To  guard  thy  secret  soul  from  nightly  fears, 
From  Cambria's  curse,  from  Cambria's  tears." 

8* 


90  MONOSYLLABIC  CHARACTER 

Read  the  tender  and  touching  appeal  of  Joseph  to 
riuiraoh  s  chief  butler : — 

"  IJut  tbiuk  on  inc  wIru  it  shall  be  well  with  thcc.  and  shew 
kindness,  I  pray  thee,  nnto  uie,  and  make  mention  of  me  unto 
Pharaoh,  and  hrinfr  me  out  of  this  house  :  for  indeed  I  was  stolen 
away  out  of  the  land  of  the  Hebrews  :  and  here  also  have  I  done 
nothing  that  they  should  put  me  into  the  dungeon." — Gen.  xl.  14, 
15. 

Contrast  this  humble  and  suppliant  appeal  with  the 
animated  burst  of  the  Chorus,  in  tlie  opening  of  Shak- 
speare's  ''  Henry  V. :" — 

"  O,  for  a  muse  of  fire,  that  would  ascend 
The  brifjhtest  heaven  of  invention  ! 
A  kingdom  for  a  stage,  princes  to  act, 
And  monurehs  to  behold  the  swelling  scene  ! 
Then  should  the  warlike  Harry,  like  himself, 
Assume  the  port  of  Mars,  and  iit  his  hvds 
Lvash'd  in  like  hauuds,  shutiid /aiitiiw,  sicord,  and  fire 
Crouch  for  vm\>htymvnt" 

llow  wide  the  contrast  between  these  passages  in 
feeling  and  diction,  yet  how  true  to  nature  are  all  of 
them  ! 

Listen  to  the  aged  l^riam,  begging  the  body  of  his 
son  of  the  ruthless  Achilles: — 

"Ah  think,  tlioii  I'uvor'd  of  the  powers  divine! 
Think  of  my  fatiier's  age,  and  pity  mine; 
Id  vxc  that  father's  revurcml  image  trace. 
Those  Hilver  hairH,  that  venerable  face. 
Tli.s  trembling  liml)S,  his  helpless  person  sec  ; 
In  all  my  ecpial,  but  in  misery."  //.  '1\. 

Contrast  with  this  the  llaid  of  Glen-Fruin,  from  "  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake:" — 


OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  91 

"  Proudly  our  pibroch  has  thrill'd  in  Glen-Fruin, 
And  Banochar's  groans  to  our  slogan  replied, 
Glen-Luss  and  Ross-Dhu,  they  are  smoking  in  ruin, 
And  the  best  of  Loch  Lomond  lie  dead  on  her  side. 

Widow  and  Saxon  maid 

Long  shall  lament  our  raid, 
Think  of  Clan- Alpine  with  fear  and  with  woe  ; 

Lennox  and  Leven  Glen 

Shake  when  they  hear  again 
Roderigh  Vich- Alpine  Dhu,  ho  !  iero  1" 

Here  we  have  the  language  of  sorrow  and  supplication 
contrasted  with  that  of  barbarous  triumph. 

Take  the  following  passage  from  Pope's  "  Essay  on 
Man,"  and  try  to  translate  it  into  any  other  language, 
so  as  to  bring  it  into  the  same  compass,  preserving  the 
same  variety  of  ideas,  the  force  of  expression,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  original: — 

"  Ask  for  what  end  the  heavenly  bodies  shine, 
Earth  for  whose  use ;  Pride  answers,  'tis  for  mine. 
For  me  kind  Nature  wakes  her  genial  power. 
Suckles  each  herl),  and  spreads  out  every  flower; 
Annual  for  me  the  grape,  the  rose,  renew 
The  juice  nectareous,  and  the  balmy  dew ; 
For  me  the  mine  a  thousand  treasures  brings  ; 
For  me  health  gushes  from  a  thousand  springs  ; 
Seas  roll  to  waft  rac,  suns  to  light  mo  rise  ; 
My  footstool  earth,  my  canopy  the  skies." 

The  whole  passage  is  bursting  with  meaning,  yet  under 
perfect  control;  the  rhymes  all  strictly  legitimate,  the 
rhythm  and  the  alternation  of  pauses  all  that  the  most 
fastidious  ear  could  desire. 


92  FLEXIBILITY  OF  ENGLISH. 

CHAPTER  V. 

FLEXIBILITY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 

For  the  purpose  of  versification,  no  language  pos- 
sesses greater  capability  of  adaptation  to  the  infinite 
forms  of  rhythm  than  the  English.  The  man  of 
genius  stamps  upon  it  any  impression  that  he  pleases; 
tentlerness,  passion,  elegance,  sublimity,  withering 
scorn.  Each  master  mind  gives  to  it  his  own  color- 
ing, and  develops  its  peculiar  aptitudes.  Milton, 
Shakspeare,  Thomson,  Cowper,  Potter,  and  many 
others,  each  has  his  characteristic  style  in  blank  verse; 
Dry  den.  Pope,  Byron,  Southey,  Wordsworth,  Moore, 
Scott,  and  many  others  in  rhyme.  At  one  time,  we 
see  the  verse  running  like  an  impetuous  torrent;  at 
another,  falling  gently  like  the  dews  upon  the  green 
slopes  of  llermon. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

A  I'UINCirLE   OF   ECONOMY  OBSERVED   IN   THE    FORMA- 
TION OF  OUR  VERY  MONOSYLLABLES  THEMSELVES. 

But  ni)t  only  i.s  the  princi|)le  of  the  AngloSa.\on 
monosyllabic,  but  even  in  the  construction  of  our 
niono.syllabU'H  a  princi|)lc  of  economy  is  observed,  and 
wp  produce  words  of  a  totally  diflercnt  meaning  by  the 


FOKMATION  OF  MONOSYLLABLES.  93 

simple  change  of  a,  e,  i,  o,  u;  as  bat,  bet,  bit,  bot,  but; 
bag,  beg,  big,  bog,  bug ;  ball,  bell,  bill,  boll,  bull ;  far, 
fir,  for,  fur.  The  same  efiect  is  produced  by  the  change 
of  consonants ;  as,  bat,  cat,  fat,  gat,  hat,  mat,  pat,  rat, 
sat,  vat;  fight,  light,  might,  night,  right,  tight;  dash, 
hash,  lash,  gash,  rash,  wash,  with  many  others  that 
might  be  added.  Voltaire  is  reported  to  have  said  that 
the  English  gained  two  hours  a  day  by  clipping  words, 
to  which  he  might  have  added  two  hours  more  by  punc- 
tuality, and  something  by  the  I.  O.  U.  of  the  com- 
mercial world.  The  principle  of  clipping  prevails  to  a 
very  great  extent  in  proper  names,  more  particularly 
in  common  conversation.  Foreign  names  must  be  satis- 
fied to  be  reduced  to  English  proportions  and  to  Eng- 
glish  estimate  of  utility.  IIow  much  valuable  time 
would  be  lost  in  reading,  speaking,  or  thinking  of  such 
a  string  of  titles  as  Jenkin  ap-Griflith  ap-Rogers  ap- 
William  ap-Rees  ap-Evans.  No:  Ap-Rogers  must  be 
Prodgers ;  Ap-Richard,  Pritchard ;  Ap-Rice,  Price ; 
Ap-Howell,  Powell ;  Ap-Robert,  Probert.  This  is  a 
quiet  mode  of  rebuking  a  useless  parade  of  genealogy. 
An  Englishman  calls  cheese  cheese,  and  is  satisfied ;  a 
AVelshman  must  give  its  genealogy  : — 


"  Cheese,  Adam's  own  cousiu-german  by  its  liiitb  ; 
Ap-curds  ap-milk  ap-cow  ap-grass  ap-earth." 


Lower. 


"  0,  should  this  mincing  fashion  overspread 
From  names  of  living  heroes  to  the  dead, 
How  would  Ambition  sigh  and  hang  her  head. 
As  each  loved  syllal)lc  should  melt  away  ! 
Her  Alexander  turn'd  into  great  A, 


94  PROCESS  OF  CONTRACTION 

A  single  C  her  Cwsar  to  express, 

IltT  Scipio  shrunk  into  a  Roman  S, 

And  uickd  and  dock'd  to  these  new  modes  of  speech, 

Great  Hannibal  himself,  a  Mister  II." 

Prologue  to  the  Farce  of  Mr.  If. 


CnAPTEll  YII. 

PROCESS  OF  CONTRACTION'  AND  SIMPLIFICATION. 

But,  independent  of  the  monosyllabic  principle  of 
the  English  language,  and  oven  the  economy  of  its 
monosyllables,  it  has  in  other  respects  been  undergoing 
a  perpetual  process  of  simplification.  Dissyllables  have 
in  many  cases  been  reduced  to  monosyllables,  as  in 
the  perfect  tense  and  the  jKist  participle  of  verbs,  and 
all  unnecessary  variations  in  case  have  been  abolished. 
'J'he  articles,  adjectives,  and  participles  have  no  varia- 
tion in  case,  gender,  or  number;  an  immense  advantage 
compared  with  many  modern  languages,  and  humane 
when  compared  with  the  twisting  and  turning,  the  fan- 
tastic gyrations  and  the  indefinite  declensions  of  the 
German  noun.  The  genders,  again,  are  not  arbitrary 
and  capricious,  as  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  most  modern 
languages,  but  founded  on  principle;  things  masculine 
being  of  the  masculine  gender,  things  feminine  of  the 
feminine,  and  things  without  life  of  the  neuter.  This 
is  the  general  principle;  and,  as  the  noun  a<ljectivo, 
the  participle,  and  the  article  have  no  variation  in  the 
expreswion  of  gender,  it  is  only  the  pronoun  that  can 


AND  SIMPLIFICATION.  95 

ever  require  to  be  marked  by  a  distinction  of  gender 
at  all.  In  poetic  diction,  where  strength  or  softness  is 
required,  or  when  objects  possess  some  natural  and  dis- 
tinctive peculiarities,  as  Sun^  Moon,  the  masculine  or 
feminine  gender  is  applied  to  things  without  life.  It 
is  this  simplicity  of  principle  which  renders  the  Eng- 
lish language,  though  difficult  of  pronunciation  to  a 
foreigner,  easy  of  acquisition  in  many  essential  par- 
ticulars, and  which  causes  it  to  be  spoken  with  toler- 
able accuracy  by  persons  who  never  had  any  gram- 
matical education  at  all;  the  chief  stumbling-blocks 
being  in  the  variations  of  the  verb  to  he,  in  the  confu- 
sion of  the  preterite  tense  of  the  verb  with  the  passive 
participle,  and  in  the  irregularities  of  the  pronoun. 
Whilst  the  Gothic  languages,  therefore,  and  more  par- 
ticularly the  Anglo-Saxon,  have  borrowed  liberally 
from  the  Greek  and  Latin,  in  the  use  of  terms  not 
needed  in  former  times  by  a  comparatively  barbarous 
people,  these  ancient  and  complex  languages  have 
borrowed  in  simplicity  of  construction  from  the  Gothic 
and  their  derivatives.  Modern  Greek  and  Italian  have 
discarded  much  of  their  former  complexities ;  the 
Italian  having  assumed  the  prefix  applicable  to  all 
nouns,  instead  of  a  variation  of  case ;  and  the  modern 
Greek  having  reduced  its  number  of  cases,  and  formed 
its  verbs  more  after  the  Italian  model. 

"  Th'  abundant  Latin  then  old  Latium  lastly  left, 
Both  of  her  proper  form,  and  elegaucie  reft, 
Before  her  smoother  tongue  their  speech  that  did  prefer, 
And  in  her  tables  fixt  their  ill-shape't  character." 

Dkayton,  Pulyolhion,  song  5. 


96  VARIETY  OF  TERMINATION. 


CHAPTER  Yin. 

WANT  OF  INFLEXION  A  CAUSE  OF  GREATER  VARIETY  OF 

TERMINATION. 

It  might  be  supposed  that,  from  the  comparative 
absence  of  inflexion  and  variation  in  the  cases,  genders, 
and  numbers  of  our  nouns,  and  the  simplicity  that 
prevails  in  the  construction  of  our  verbs,  our  language 
would  bo  monotonous,  and  deficient  in  variety  of  ter- 
mination. The  very  reverse^  however,  is  the  fact.  In 
Greek  or  Latin,  the  adjective  very  frequently  terminates 
like  the  noun,  with  which  it  agrees;  so  do  the  article 
and  the  particij)le,  in  many  cases;  at  the  same  time 
that  personal  verbs,  in  the  first  person  singular,  all  end 
in  o  or  or.  Take  the  following  example,  quoted  by 
Cicero  in  his  "Do  Naturu  Deorum :" — 

Clamo,  poslulo,  obsccro,  oro,  ploro,  atque  imploro  fidcm. 

If  translated  into  English,  all  these  words  would  have 
dilTcrcnt  terminations.     So  also  from  the  Greek. 

il>(  ra{  a6(X4iaf  ran  ht  roi  tfiai  X'P"^-  Soi'llori.R.s. 

Here  are  six  consecutive  words  ending  in  oj,  with  the 
sligijt  exception  of  the  enclitic  6i.  Such  a  coincidence 
ill  English  would  be  injpossiblo.  In  Italian,  a  language 
formed  for  song,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  a 
whole  series  of  words  ending  in  o. 


MODIFICATION  OF  FOEEIGN  TERMS.  97 


CHAPTER    IX. 

MODIFICATION  OF  FOREIGN  TERMS  BY  MODERN 
LANGUAGES. 

Even  in  modern  languages,  whicli  are  not  so  encum- 
bered with  inflexions  as  tbe  ancient,  strange  liberties 
have  been  taken  with  proper  names,  when  they  happen 
not  to  harmonize  with  the  genius  of  the  language  into 
which  they  have  been  adopted.  From  Cromwell,  the 
Spaniards  have  Caramuel ;  from  Oswald,  Ossubaldo ; 
from  Ethelwalde,  Etelubalde.  From  Oxford,  Froissart 
has  Aquesufford.  The  term  "Welsh,  applied  by  the 
Saxons  to  the  Ancient  Britons,  arises  from  a  corruption 
of  a  similar  kind.  They  rightly  believe  the  Welsh,  or 
Ancient  Britons,  to  be  of  Gallic,  or,  according  to  the 
genius  of  their  own  language,  of  Gallish  extraction. 
This  term,  like  many  others,  in  which  the  initial  G  was 
changed  into  W,  became  Wallish,  and  was  further  con- 
tracted into  Walsh  and  Welsh.  The  ancient  French 
writers,  reversing  this,  called  our  Edward  Prince  of 
Wales,  Edouard  Prince  de  Gaulles. 

It  is  the  very  simplicity  observed  in  the  construction 
of  the  English  language,  which  enables  it  to  adopt,  with 
perfect  ease,  terms  which  do  not  easily  amalgamate  with 
languages  of  more  complexity.  If  a  term  be  adopted 
into  the  English  language,  the  addition  of  5  or  es  in  the 
plural  number,  and  of  s  with  the  apostrophe  in  the  pos- 
sessive case,  comprises  all  the  modifications  which,  with 
trifling  exceptions,  it  is  destined  to  undergo.  If  a  for- 
9 


98  MODIFICATION  OF  FOREIGN  TERMS 

eign  word  was  uilmitted  into  the  Greek  language,  it  had 
to  undergo  a  considerable  alteration,  in  order  to  adapt 
it  to  the  genius  of  that  language.  It  had  to  pass  through 
the  grammatical  crucible,  from  which  it  issued  purified 
of  what  might  be  considered  its  barbarism,  but  with 
modifications  and  amalgamations  to  which  it  had  hith- 
erto been  a  stranger.  A  ludicrous  instance  of  the 
change  of  words  to  suit  the  genius  of  another  language 
is  related  in  the  case  of  Sir  J.  llawkwood,  a  renowned 
English  knight,  who  died  at  Florence.  Some  English- 
men passing  through  Florence  observed  an  epitaph  to 
Johannes  Aculus,  Eques.  The  Latin  word  acutus  signi- 
fying sAar/),  they  naturally  enough  translated  the  words 
.John  Sharp,  Knight,  or,  as  we  say.  Sir  John  Sharp. 
"Who  this  Sir  John  Sharp  could  be,  they  were  at  a  loss 
to  tell ;  but,  on  investigation,  found  that,  as  the  Latin 
bad  neither  k  nor  lu,  and  the  initial  aspirate  II  in  Hawk 
wood  did  not  seem  of  much  importance,  the  Florentines 
had  taken  the  word  most  nearly  resembling  llawkwood 
in  sound,  Acutus,  which  an  Englishman  would  naturally 
translate  Sir  John  >V//(/;7>. 

From  the  Hebrew,  we  have  Jacob  ;  in  (J  reek,  iaxQ,3cj ; 
in  Spanish,  Jago;  in  Italian,  Giacomo;  in  French, 
Jacques;  and  in  English,  James.  Where  compound 
transmutations  have  taken  place,  in  some  cases  scarcely 
any  trace  of  the  original  root  can  be  discerned. 

From  the  Greek  preposition  i£,  from  out,  we  have  the 
Latin  ex,  with  the  same  meaning;  from  this  is  derived 
ejUra,  without;  from  cxlra  the  French  have  got  ctraivjer^ 
from  which  we  have  the  term  stranger,  possessing  all 
the  air  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  term ;  though  a  fourth  remove 
from  the  Greek.    It  is  thus  that  corruption  added  to  cor- 


BY  MODERX  LANGUAGES.  99 

ruption  leaves  little  trace  of  original  parentage,  and  that 
words  which  national  vanity  may  suppose  to  be  the 
offspring  of  its  own  soil,  may  often  be  traced,  through 
successive  variations,  to  some  remote  original.  Thou- 
sands of  languages  might  thus  branch  out  from  one 
original  stock,  bearing  an  affinity,  more  or  less,  to  that 
stock  in  general ;  but  in  some  cases  losing,  perhaps,  all 
traces  of  their  original  parentage. 

Words  in  common  use,  and  more  particularly  those 
which  are  expressive  of  domestic  objects,  would  be  more 
likely  than  any  others  to  be  transmitted  through  sue 
cessive  generations  of  men,  whether  stationary  or  mi 
gratory.    In  the  Sanscrit,  for  instance,  the  most  ancient, 
and,  according  to  high  authorities,  the  most  philosophi 
cal  language  in  existence,  we  have,  for  example  Pitr 
Greek,  natri^]   Latin,  pater;   Persian,  padr;  German 
vater;    Anglo-Saxon,  feeder;   Dutch,   vader ;   Danish 
fader;    English,  father.      Again,  in  Sanscrit,  we  have 
Mdlre ;  Persian,  madr;  Russian,  mater;  Celtic,  mathair 
Greek,  jxnfn'i'  I  Latin,  mater  ;   German,  mutter  ;   Dutch 
moader ;   Anglo-Saxon,  moder ;   Danish  and  Swedish 
moder ;   English,  mother.     The  word   brother  is  still 
more   remarkable.      Sanscrit,  Bhralre  ;   Irish,  bratha 
Greek,  ^par'^jp ;    French,  fretre,  fr^re ;    Persian,  bradr 
Tartaric,   bruder ;    German,  bruder ;    Russian,  bratr 
Celtic,  brawd;  Erse,  brathair;  Moesic,  brothar;  Dutch 
breeder;  Danish  and  Swedish,  broder;  Icelandic,  brodur 
Armoric,  breur;   Anglo-Saxon,  brodor  ;   English,  bro 
ther;   the  same  word,  with  sliglit  variations,  in  seven 
teen  languages.* 

*  Bosworth's  Preface  to  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary. 


100  MODIFICATION  OF  FOREIGN  TERMS. 

These  are  household  words,  interwoven  with  our 
earliest  and  purest  affections,  the  first  to  be  learned, 
the  last  to  be  forgotten ;  at  the  same  time,  they  beau- 
tifully illustrate  the  continuous  tide  of  human  popula- 
tion, as  it  rolls  over  the  earth's  surfiice  with  the  pro- 
gre:=s  of  time.  Words,  which  sprang  up  at  Agra,  and 
Delhi,  and  Benares,  four  thousand  years  ago,  are  but 
now  scaling  the  Kocky  Mountains  of  Western  America. 

At  the  same  time,  if,  from  any  peculiar  circum- 
stances, as  from  commercial  intercourse  or  territorial 
occupation,  a  term  drawn  from  another  language  should 
be  really  wanted,  and  should  always  harmonize,  or  be 
made  to  harmonize,  with  the  language  into  which  it 
may  be  adopted,  we  cannot  look  upon  it  as  a  case  of 
corruption.  It  is  a  rupee  melted  down,  and  stamped 
with  the  impress  of  the  current  coin.  It  is  an  article 
of  foreign  commerce,  admitted  into  the  general  stock 
of  national  conveniences.  W^itli  respect  to  the  lan- 
guage into  which  it  may  have  been  adopted,  it  is  often 
nothing  more  than  a  matter  of  precedence,  a  question  of 
time.  Its  novelty  gradually  wears  ofl',  and  its  features 
become  more  and  more  familiar.  Over  many  acces- 
sions of  this  kind,  time  has  already  spread  a  dark  and 
impenetrable  mantle.  In  this  way,  as  commerce  and 
foreign  conquests  have  been  continually  adding  to  tho 
riches  of  the  Kngli.sh  nation,  so  the  intercourse  arising 
from  commerce  and  conquest  has  been  continually 
adding  to  the  English  vocabulary. 


EFFECTS  OF  CLASSICAL  LITERATUEE.  101 


CHAPTER  X. 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  CLASSICAL 
LITEEATURE. 

Wherever  classical  literature  has  been  cultivated, 
there  we  may  expect  to  find  numerous  terms,  which 
have  been  adopted  from  necessity,  convenience,  or  taste. 
We  must  not  look  upon  such  adoptions  as  the  result  of 
necessity  only.  Terms  taken  from  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  have  been  incorporated  with  those  of  our 
own,  and  that,  too,  in  many  cases,  where  the  meaning 
might  have  been  expressed  in  the  Anglo-Saxon.  We 
have,  for  instance,  periphery  from  the  Greek,  and  cir- 
cumference from  the  Latin;  but  have  lost  emhegang, 
from  emb,  about,  and  begang,  to  go,  a  going-about. 
We  have  adopted  hydrophobia,  but  have  lost  wceter- 
fyrthnys,  water-fright;  dropsy,  but  have  lost  u-ce(er-adl, 
water-ill.  We  have  lexicon  and  dictionary,  one  from 
the  Greek,  the  other  from  the  Latin,  which  might  have 
been  expressed  by  word-book.  From  the  Greek  we 
have  geometry,  but  have  lost  eorth-gemei,  earth-measure. 
We  have  arithmetician  from  the  Greek  api9//oj,  number, 
but  have  lost  gerim-crceftig^  skilful  in  numbers.  We 
have  lunatic,  but  have  lost  monath-seoc,  month-sick. 
For  tcite7ia- gemot,  we  have  adopted  the  French  term 
parliament;  "an  assembly  of  the  wise,"  for  "a  talkee- 
talkee:"  and,  in  the  place  of  the  beautifully  descriptive 
word  eorthh'ng  or  yrthUng,  earthling,  we  have  got  agri- 
culturist, and  the  unmeaning  term  farmer.  Numerous 
examples  of  this  kind  might  of  course  be  added. 

9- 


102  EFFECTS  OF  TUE  CULTIVATION 

It  is  not  always  necessity,  therefore,  tliat  has  been 
the  cause  of  our  introducing  terms  derived  from  the 
classical  languages.  The  capability  of  varied  com- 
bination is  not  wanting  in  the  Knglish  language;  but 
the  very  fiict  of  our  having  availed  ourselves  of  classical 
combinations  in  lieu  of  our  own,  and  often  in  con- 
junction with  them,  has  rendered  it  not  only  more 
copious  and  more  flexible,  but  more  easy  of  acquisi- 
tion to  other  nations,  with  whom  wo  may  have  terri- 
torial or  commercial  intercourse,  at  least,  wherever 
classical  Ifterature  has  been  cultivated.  We  gain  a 
technical  nomenclature  easily  recognized  and  under- 
stood by  all  nations  conversant  with  those  models  of 
antiquity,  Greek  and  Latin.  Every  Englishman  knows 
what  is  meant  by  the  word  net;  no  explanation  would 
make  it  better  understood;  but  a  rcticulaled  texture, 
Plnglish  words  adopted  from  the  Latin,  makes  the  defi- 
nition perfectly  intelligible  at  once  to  a  classical  scholar 
of  any  country.  If  it  is  praiseworthy  in  a  nation  to 
adopt  useful  discoveries  in  arts  and  sciences,  though  of 
foreign  origin,  it  is  not  only  praiseworthy,  but  neces- 
sary, for  that  nation  to  enrich  its  native  tongue  with 
such  terms  as  tiic  progress  of  arts  and  sciences  may 
require. 

When  our  forefathers  issued  from  the  forests  of 
Germany  or  Scandinavia,  and  (juitted  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic  or  the  stormy  coasts  of  Norway,  they  possessed 
a  language  sulTicient  to  cxjjrcss  their  wants,  but  not 
suflieient  for  the  exigencies  of  a  refined  and  scientific 
people.  Their  language  was  rude,  harsh,  and  l>ithy, 
with  an  air  of  savage  indei)endence,  that  regarded  not 
those  nicer  grammatical  and  syntactical  discriminations 


OF  CLASSICAL  LITEKATURE.  103 

which  a  more  civilized  state  of  society  requires.  The 
alterations  and  additions  that  have  been  introduced, 
have  given  copiousness  and  flexibility,  without  injur- 
ing the  original  texture  of  our  language.  We  have 
not  imitated  the  grammatical  complications  of  the 
Greek  or  Latin ;  whilst  those  languages,  in  their  mo- 
dern condition,  have  gradually  approximated  more 
closely  to  the  structure  of  the  English  language. 

In  the  adoption  of  classical  terms,  the  English  lan- 
guage has  done  nothing  more  than  that  which  has  been 
done  by  the  other  languages  of  Europe.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  fact,  but  of  degree.  The  Greek  word  uvov, 
for  example,  has  been  adopted  into  nine  European  lan- 
guages. Greek,  %ivov;  Latin,  linum ;  French,  lin  ;  Italian, 
lino;  Spanish,  lino;  Portuguese,  liuho ;  German,  lein; 
Norwegian,  lun ;  Swedish,  lin ;  whilst  every  European 
language,  except  the  Danish,  uses  lin,  when  speaking  of 
the  seed.  From  this  word  Uiie,  we  have  several  second- 
ary meanings.  When  we  speak  of  direct  extension, 
we  call  it  a  line,  because  line  is  the  common  material 
from  which  ropes  or  cords  used  in  direct  measurement 
would  be  usually  formed.  From  this  term  also  we  have 
liniyig, — line,  or  linen,  being  the  material  from  which 
the  under-garment  was  generally  made,  or  with  which 
the  outer-garment  was  internally  covered.  From  the 
term  Uiie  we  have  also  lineage,  a  direct  succession ;  and 
lineaments,  the  distinct  characters  or  boundary  lines  of 
the  features. 


104  JUDICIOUS  INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

ADVANTAGES  ARISING  FROM  THE  JUDICIOUS  INTRODUC- 
TION OF   CLASSICAL  TERMS. 

The  judicious  admixture  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  classi- 
cal terms  constitutes  the  style  of  our  best  authors.  It 
gives  a  legitimate  variety  of  composition,  formed  upon 
peculiar  tastes  and  education.  In  this  respect,  Swift 
and  Johnson  may  be  considered  as  placed  at  opposite 
extremes;  the  style  of  the  former  being  peculiarly 
English.;  that  of  the  latter  being  formed  upon  the 
classical  models,  and  imitating  not  only  the  phraseology, 
but  the  polish  and  rotundity  of  their  periods.  Swift 
would  say,  "The  thing  has  not  life  enough  in  it  to 
keep  it  sweet;"  Johnson,  "The  creature  possesses  not 
vitality  sufTicient  to  preserve  it  from  putreHiction." 
IIow  widely  different  is  the  phraseology  of  these  sen- 
tences! yet  they  both  express  the  same  meaning,  and  we 
call  them  both  iMiglisli.  To  court  classical  terms  too 
much,  or  to  avoid  them  too  much,  would  generally  lead 
to  a  mode  of  expression  bordering  on  aflectation.  In 
words  compounded  with  prepositions,  we  have  borrowed 
largely,  and  necessarily  so,  from  the  Latin  ;  and,  from 
these  borrowed  terms,  primary  and  secondary  meanings 
are  obtained  with  a  happy  di.scrimination.  Take,  (or 
instance,  the  verb  siato,  I  stand,  itself  derived  from  the 
verb  ioroM.     We  then  have,  in  the  first  place, 

Siato,  1  Htuinl. 
Componndod  with  Ail,  yVilHisto,  I  stand  to  or  near,       Aspist. 

-  Con.  Consisto,     j  '  «^""''  ^'^^'  ^^rec 

I      with,  CoD3iat. 


OF  CLASSICAL  TEEMS.  105 


Compounded  with  De, 

Desisto, 

I  stand  off, 

Desist. 

—               Ex, 

Existo, 

I  stand  forth, 

Exist. 

-               In, 

Insisto, 

f  I  stand  over,  upon, 
l    take  my  stand  on. 

,  Insist. 

—               Per, 

Persisto, 

I  stand  through, 

Persist, 

—               Re, 

Resisto, 

I  stand  back, 

Resist. 

—               Sub, 

Subsisto, 

I  stand  under, 

Subsist. 

From  trahn^  to  draw,  is  derived  tractus,  drawing,  from 
which  we  have: — 


Compounded 

with  Ad, 

Attract,  to  draw  to. 

Con, 

Contract,  to  draw  together. 

— 

De, 

Detract,  to  draw  from. 

— 

Dis, 

Distract,  to  draw  asunder. 

— 

Ex, 

Extract,  to  draw  out  of. 

— 

Pro, 

Protract,  to  draw  forward. 

— 

Re, 

Retract,  to  draw  back. 

— 

Sub, 

Subtract,  to  draw  from  under, 

From  tendo,  I  stretch,  when  compounded  with  preposi- 
tions, are  derived  attend,  contend,  distend,  extend,  intend, 
•pretend,  portend.  The  verbs  teneo,  venio,  and  fere,  with 
many  others,  admit  of  being  compounded  with  preposi- 
tions, and  then  run  tlirough  diversities  of  meaning, 
both  in  Latin  and  English,  with  a  clear  and  beautiful 
discrimination.  If  these  words  alone  were  blotted  out 
of  the  English  language,  how  could  their  places  be  sup- 
plied ? 

Again,  take  such  a  word  as  asylum,  for  example. 
How  shall  the  mere  English  scholar  deal  with  it  ?  He 
may  not,  it  is  true,  misapply  it,  and  so  far  it  serves  his 
purpose  ;  but  he  cannot  understand,  without  explana- 
tion, why  it  signifies  a  place  of  refuge,  which  is  in  fact 
only  a  secondary  meaning.  Its  primary  meaning  is  a 
place  from  which  you  cannot  drag  an  object — hence  a 


106  JUDICIOUS  INTRODUCTION 

place  of  refuge,  a  sanctuary  not  to  be  violated.  Absurd, 
ah  surdo,  coming  from  a  deaf  man,  who  mistaking  the 
question  that  is  put  to  him,  returns  an  answer  quite 
foreign  to  the  purpose.  Calamity,  from  calamus,  a 
reed,  a  stallc  of  corn.  Calamit}'',  destruction  of  the  stalks 
(of  corn);  hence,  a  great  misfortune,  a  calamity.  Im- 
becilit3'',  im  (in)  haculus,  imhecilluSj  one  leaning  on  a 
staff;  hence,  imbecility,  weakness,  dependence  for  sup- 
port. 

It  is  only  when  we  enter  into  the  analom;/  of  such 
words  as  these  that  we  become  sensible  of  their  perfect 
adaptation  to  express  our  ideas;  and  we  feel  that  their 
services  in  the  English  language  cannot  be  dispensed 
with.  As  children  of  softer  climes  and  gentler  aspect, 
they  have  been  received  into  the  family  inheritance,  and 
add  grace  and  elegance  to  the  land  of  their  adoption. 
If  we  must  borrow  at  all,  it  is  surely  better  that  we 
should  borrow  from  these  pure  fountains  of  antiquity 
than  from  the  polluted  streams  of  more  modern  times; 
and  if  we  are  to  be  accused  of  piracy  on  this  account, 
what  European  language  can  furnish  partisans  bold 
enough  to  throw  the  first  stone?  From  intercourse 
and  from  conquest,  all  the  languages  of  I'Airope  par- 
ticipate with  each  other.  The  modern  French  is  a 
compound  of  the  ancient  Gallic;  of  Greek.  ]>artly  de- 
rived from  the  Greek  colony  that  founded  Marseilles, 
and  partly  through  the  medium  of  the  Tiatin,  intro- 
duced by  the  long  residence  of  the  Roman  legions  in 
Ciaul;  of  th(j  Krancic,  introduced  by  the  Franks,  who 
entered  (iaul  under  Faramund,  and  gave  their  name  to 
France;  of  the  Norman,  or  northern  dialect,  with  which 


OF  CLASSICAL  TERMS.  107 

the  peculiar  pronunciation  of  the  letter  r  is  supposed 
to  have  been  introduced,  just  as  a  similar  peculiarity 
was  introduced  into  Northumberland  by  the  Danes. 
Language,  in  fact,  is  the  mere  child  of  circumstances; 
"  words,"  as  it  has  been  beautifully  expressed,  "  being 
the  daughters  of  earth,"  whilst  "  things  are  the  sons  of 
heaven,"  the  one  changeable  and  perishable,  the  others 
stable  and  permanent.  We  see  language  in  various 
stages  of  its  progress,  in  its  rude  formation,  its  acquire- 
ments, its  plenitude,  its  corruption,  and  its  decay. — 
But  the  English  language  has  shown  no  wanton  or 
capricious  adoption  of  foreign  terms  or  foreign  idioms. 
In  the  simplicity  of  its  construction,  it  has  cut  out  a 
path  for  itself;  and  neither  by  the  introduction  of  clas- 
sical terms,  nor  by  words  or  phrases  derived  from  any 
other  source,  has  it  ever  suffered  its  onward  process  of 
simplification  to  be  impeded,  or  its  leading  principles  to 
be  overpowered. 

"  Trampled  upon  l)y  the  ignoble  feet  of  strangers,  its  spring 
still  retains  force  enough  to  restore  itself;  it  lives  and  plays 
through  all  the  veins  of  the  language ;  it  impregnates  the  innu- 
merable strangers  entering  its  dominions  with  its  temper,  and 
stains  thom  with  its  color;  not  unlike  the  Greek,  which,  in  tak- 
ing up  Oriental  words,  stripped  them  of  their  foreign  costumes, 
and  bid  them  appear  as  native  Greeks." — Halbertsnia,  quoted  by 
Bosworth. 


108  TXTnonurTiox  of  foreign 


SECTION  II. 

SOURCES  OF  CORRUrTIOX. 

CHAPTEPt  I. 

IXTRODUCTIOX  OF  FOREIGN  TERMS,  rilRASES,  AND  IDIOMS. 

Foreirjn  Terms. 

In  the  time  of  Cliauccr,  the  French  language  flowed 
in  copiously  upon  the  Anglo-Saxon.  His  popularity  as 
a  poet  gave  authority  to  the  introduction  of  new  terms. 
"  lie  was,  indeed,"  says  an  ancient  author,  "  a  great 
mingler  of  p]nglish  with  French,  unto  which  by  like, 
for  he  was  descended  of  French,  or  rather  Wallon  race, 
he  carried  a  great  aflection." 

"  Ami  he  h:i<liK'  he  lonc^  time  in  rhcvarhic. 
In  Flan<lor«,  and  Artoi.s,  and  ricardie,"     Cant.  Tales. 

Again : — 

"  And  to  Iton  holden  ilirjne  of  reverence."  Ihnl. 

"  Of  wliicli  acUdotirs  inij^hten  take  eusaniple."  Ibid. 

This  propensity  aetjuircd  for  Chaucer  the  nickname  of 
*"]Mic  FrcMich  Brewer." 

Besides  introducing  French  terms,  Chaucer  accented 
many  of  his  syllables  after  the  French  form,  and  made 
dissyllables  (jut  of  monosyllables;  a  principle  quite  con- 
trary to  the  genius  of  the  English  language,  and,  as  it 
has  proved,  incai)able  of  sustaining  itself: — 


TERMS,  PHRASES,  AND  IDIOMS.  109 

"  A  clerke  there  was  of  Oxenforde  also, 
That  unto  Logicke  hadde  long  ygo, 
And  len6  was  his  horse,  as  is  a  rake, 
And  he  was  not  right  fat,  I  undertake."   Cant.  Tales. 

Some  excuse  may  be  found  for  the  introduction  of 
French  terms  by  Chaucer,  in  the  comparative  poverty 
of  the  English  language  at  the  time  in  which  he  lived. 
What  might  even  be  excusable  in  his  day  would  be 
an  afi'ected  and  mischievous  principle  in  the  present 
state  of  our  language.  If  the  French  invent  some  new 
instrument,  as  guillotine  or  bayonet,  we  use  the  same 
term  to  express  those  objects,  rather  than  have  recourse 
to  a  circumlocution,  or  invent  a  new  term.  Upon  the 
same  principle,  we  call  a  Turkish  sword  a  scimitar;  the 
burning  of  a  widow  in  India,  a  suttee  ;  a  noisy  instru- 
ment invented  by  the  Chinese,  a  gong.  If  we  introduce 
a  foreign  material,  we  in  most  cases  adopt  its  concurrent 
name,  as  gutta  percha.  Such  terms  are  already  made 
to  our  hands,  and  offer  themselves  for  their  adoption. 
In  this  there  is  nothing  worthy  of  blame :  it  is  the 
practice  of  all  countries.  But  this  is  very  different 
from  that  silly,  pedantic  affectation  of  interlarding  our 
language  with  foreign  terms,  where  there  is  no  occasion 
for  it ;  very  different  from  that  heterogeneous  mixture 
which  no  process,  however  laborious,  can  ever  triturate 
into  a  state  of  am.algamation.  We  wish  not  the  manly 
form  of  our  language  to  be  tricked  out  in  a  coat  of 
many  colors.  It  has  arrived  at  vigorous  and  majestic 
proportions,  and  spurns  from  it  that  ofEciousness  which 
would  hide  its  dignity  under  a  load  of  foreign  frippery. 

10 


110  INTKODUGTION  OF  FOREIGN 

Foreign  Phrases. 

•  I  was  chcz  moi,  itihaling  the  odeur  viusqu^e  of  my  scented 
boudoir,  wheu  the  rriuce  de  Z.  entered,  lie  found  inc  in  my 
dtini-ioilit(v,  blas^csurtout,  and  pensively  enirajred  in  solitary  con- 
jufration  of  the  verb  s'cuntii/rr  ;  and,  thoujrh  he  had  never  been 
one  of  my  hdhituis,  or  by  any  means  dts  iiofris,  1  was  not  tlisin- 
cliued,  at  this  moment  of  d^lassemvii/,  to  glide  with  him  into  the 
crocchio  rcstrdtv  of  familiar  chat." — Lady  Munjan,  New  MvnUdy, 
No.  lie. 

Again  : — 

"  And  where  did  I  give  this  notable  rendezvous?  '  Jc  vous  lo 
donne  en  une — ^je  vous  le  doiine  en  (|uatre.'  as  Madame  Savigne 
says.  Why,  in  the  church  of  the  t^iiirinal  at  Home,  and  at  the 
cartlinal's.  I'ardi,  my  cardinal  was  none  of  your  ordinary  cardi- 
nal.s,  who  come  with  a  whoop  and  a  call,  and  take  a  cover  at  your 
table,  and  till  your  little  anti-room  witii  lafamiijlia.  The  cardi- 
nal [nir  txrrlli  tin-,  the  Cardinal  (Jonsalvi,  was  of  another  ^(oj/'t ." 

Here  arc  the  swccping.s  of  a  tailor's  shop,  the  shreds 
and  patches  of  a  harlc(iuin's  jacket.  It  is  lit  to  be  put 
into  competition  with  the  address  of  Jemeno,  the  priest, 
to  ^^^.  Coleridge,  at  Dominica: — 

"  Como  esta,  Monsieur?  J'espbre  que  usted  se  porto  vary  well. 
Lc  I>atin  est  good  ting,  mais  good  knowledge,  sin  cl  Latin,  rien 
to  be  done." 

Fureiyn  Idioms. 

Foreign  idioms  ought  as  strenuously  to  be  avoided 
08  foreign  terms  and  phrases.  They  derange  and  inter- 
fero  witii  the  natural  order  of  the  language.  This  sort 
of  corruption  is  well  cxemplilicd  in  Hannah  More's 
"Satirical  Letter  from  a  Lady  lo  her  Friend,  in  the 
Keign  of  (Jeorgc  the  Fifth:" — 

"1>K.VR  .Madam,  Alumndc  Ctistlc. 

"  I  no  sooner  found  myself  here  than  I  visited  my  new  ajtart- 
meutii,  which  urc  composed  of  five  pieces;  the  small  room  which 


TERMS,  PHRASES,  AND  IDIOMS.  Ill 

gives  upon  the  garden,  is  practised  through  the  great  one,  and 
there  is  no  other  issue.  As  I  was  exceeded  with  fatigue,  I  no 
sooner  made  my  toilette  than  I  let  myself  fall  upon  a  bed  of  re- 
pose, where  sleep  came  to  surprise  me.  My  lord  and  I  are  in  the 
iiitention  to  make  good  cheer,  and  a  great  expense,  and  this  coun- 
try is  in  possession  to  furnish  wherewithal,  to  amuse  oneself. 
All  that  England  has  of  illustrious — all  that  youth  has  of  amiable, 
or  beauty  of  ravishing,  sees  itself  in  this  quarter.  Eender  your- 
self here,  then,  my  friend,  and  you  shall  find  assembled  all  that 
is  of  best,  whether  for  letters,  whether  for  mirth,"  &c.  «fcc. 

Here  the  words  are  English,  but  the  idiom  altogether 
French.     It  is  intelligible  ;  but,  as  English,  ridiculous. 


CHAPTER  II. 

UNAUTHORIZED   TERMS. 

We  sometimes  find  that  particular  authors  presume 
too  much  upon  their  own  authority,  and  make  use  of 
strange  and  unauthorized  terms.  Mr.  Coleridge,  in  his 
"  Constitution  of  Church  and  State,"  uses  the  following 
words,  mfluencive^  exhaustive,  extroilive,  retroitive,  i^o- 
ductivily.  Minds  not  so  subtile  or  metaphysical  as  that 
of  Mr.  Coleridge  would  scarcely  recognize  the  necessity 
of  such  terms  as  these. 

Bcntley  uses  comraentitious,  aliene,  negoce,  exscnbe,  as 
English  words.  When,  however,  words  perish  on  the 
page  on  which  they  were  written,  it  is  a  proof  that  they 
were  not  wanted.  lie  finds  fault  with  his  opponent  for 
using  cotemporancous  instead  of  contemporaneous,  on 


112  INFLATED  TERMS. 

the  princii)le  that  tlic  Latins  used  co  instead  of  cov,  when 
followed  by  a  vowel,  as,  coire,  coercere ;  but  they  wrote 
co»gratulare,  corjstituere,  co;??ponere,  «Scc.,  retaining  the 
n  when  the  next  word  began  with  a  consonant.  Co- 
temporary,  as  a  matter  of  cupliony,  is,  however,  strug- 
gling against  contemporary,  and  principle  and  analogy 
may  yet  succumb  before  the  authority  of  custom. 


CHAPTEK    III. 

INFLATED  TERMS. 

Tjiere  is  an  inflated  or  stilted  stylo  of  composition, 
embodying  terms  altogether  disjiroportionatc  to  the 
subject,  and  which  is  often  so  unfortunate  as  to  com- 
bine in  one  sentence,  or  one  paragraph,  the  pompous, 
the  oflcnsivc,  and  the  ridiculous: — 

"Tlu!  nijjrht,  now  far  mlvancod,  was  l»rillianlly  luit'lit  with  tho 
rnilianry  of  lunar  nml  astral  cfTiilpfnce — u  most  lovoly  nijrht — a 
iloatli-like  stillness  pri'Vailcd  over  nature,  sound  asleep,  and  tho 
fair  muon.  taking  her  nocturnal  promenade  ulon^  the  cloudless 
a/ure,  and  stellar  canopy  of  heaven,  walketl  in  all  the  resi)lcn- 
dency  of  her  highest  and  hrifrhtest  glory—  the  very  niglit,  aecord- 
iag  to  fiction's  tales  and  romance,  of  imaf^ination's  fantastic 
records,  08  (that)  would  have  suited  a  melantdudic  pensiveness, 
a  sentimental  solitude,  a  chivalrous  spirit,  l>ent  on  some  (Quixotic 
deed  of  hold  advenlwn-  '  I'V//  (n  (he  Mi/mpolis  (>f  J-'runrc.  liy 
(J.  Clayton,  K.sij. 

The  samo  gentleman  speaks  of  houses  that  "  run  eight 


INFLATED  TERMS.  113 

stories  in  ascent;"  basins  of  "  translucent  water,  in  wliicli 
gold  and  silver  fish  disport  leapingly,  with  vaulting 
somersets." 

Francis  Moore  would  say  that  a  style  like  this  had 
been  generated  under  a  "  malific  configuration  of  dele- 
terious planets."  Not,  however,  that  this  style  and 
this  kind  of  phraseology  are  altogether  to  be  avoided. 
When  there  is  an  intentional  disproportion  between  the 
subject  and  the  diction,  as  in  "  The  Battle  of  the  Frogs 
and  Mice,"  or  in  the  case  of  a  Puff^  the  hyperbolical 
may  be  made  productive  of  considerable  humor.  Thus, 
when  M'Alpine,  after  dilating  in  high-flown  phraseology 
on  the  superiority  of  his  bear's- grease,  boldly  throws 
himself  into  the  field  of  competition  for  empire,  and 
proclaims,  to  the  consternation  of  inferior  aspirants, 
"The  Kubicon  is  passed — aut  M'Alpine  aut  nullus," 
we  are  amused  with  the  disproportion  between  the  ob- 
ject and  the  diction — the  contrast  between  the  man  of 
empire  and  the  man  of  hair.  The  hyperbole,  with  its 
concomitant  phraseology,  is  a  dangerous  figure,  when 
used  seriously.  It  is  constantly  quivering  on  the  verge 
of  the  ridiculous.     The  aspirant  who  says  to  himself, 

"  Sublimi  feriam  sidcra  vcrtice," 

but  too  often  meets  with  the  fate  of  the  unhappy  Icarus. 
Thus  Blackmore : — 

"  Up  to  the  stars  the  sprawling  mastiff's  fly, 
And  add  new  monsters  to  the  frighted  sky.' ' 

Wc  arc  apt  to  follow  these  flying  dogs  in  imagination, 

10* 


Ill  INXONGRDITY  OF  TEUMS. 

and,  were  it  not  for  the  trifling  anachronism,  to  trace 
the  position  of  Sirius  and  Procyon  to  an  English 
bull-bait. 


CnAPTEK   IV. 

INCONGRUITY  OF  TERMS. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  startling  incongruities 
which  we  meet  with  in  the  "Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney," 
by  the  authoress  of  Evelina. 

"Mrs.  Cibbor  liorsclf  he  consitlercil  as  a  patlorn  of  porfection 
iu  Ibc  tragic  art,  from  lior  nimitiffiziii'i  ])owor  of  lutrmiriiKj  and 
winning  at  once,  every  feeling  of  llie  mind." 

"  Si-x  heartless,  nearly  desolate  years  of  lonely  conjugal  chasm 
had  succeeded  to  doulde  their  number  of  unparalleled  conjugal 
enjoyment;  and  the  lo/*/ was  still /(f//oj/',  and  hopeless,  when  the 
yet  itrt/-liaiulsumi-thuti<jh-no-Ioiiiji  r-in-]u'r-bl(iii7n  M rs.  Stephen 
Allen  of  Lynn,  now  become  a  widow,  decided,  for  the  promoting 
(of)  the  education  of  her  eldest  daughter,  to  make  Lontlon  her 
winter  residence." 

Again  : — 

"  By  n  fearful  and  calamitous  event,  which  made  the  fulling 
leaves  of  Autumn  corroaivply  scpidvhral  to  I)r.  IJurney." 

Again  : — 

"Scarcely  had  this  hiirrowing  filial  separation  taken  plac<-,  vw- 
an  ussaull  wa«i  made  upon  his  conjugal  lefliugs,  by  the  sudilru-al- 
thr-nwnierU'^hotuih-/rom-iin(ji'ritiii-ilhuas-<}/tvn-pri'Vtou^if-crpcde<l 
death  of  Mr.  Ibirney's  sccoml  wife." 


INCONGRUITY  OF  TERMS.  115 

Here,  eleven  words  connected  by  hyphens  form  one 
rambling  adjunct  to  death — an  example  of  what  the 
English  language  may  be  made  to  bear,  but  no  credit 
to  the  executioner. 

]\[r.  Willis,  an  American  writer,  in  his  "Dashes  at 
Life  with  a  Free  Pencil,"  is  full  of  overstrained  and 
incongruous  imagery  and  expressions.     As, 

"My  heart  was  as  prodigal  as  a  Croton  Hydrant." — p.  48. 

"  She  was  consumcdhj  (cousunimatoly  ?)  good-looking." — p.  50. 

"  They  might  have  known,  indeed,  that  the  chain  of  bliss  ever 
so  far  extended,  breaks  off,  at  last,  with  an  imperfect  link — that, 
though  mustard  and  ham  may  turn  two  slices  of  innocent  bread 
into  a  sandivich,  there  tvill  still  be  an  unbuttered  outside." 

"  Phoebe  at  last  believed  that  in  the  regions  of  space  there  ex- 
isted, wandering,  but  not  lost,  the  aching  worser  half,  of  which 
she  was  the  better ;  some  lofty  intellect,  capable  of  sounding  the 
unfathomable  abysses  of  hers ;  some  male  essence,  all  soul  and 
romance,  with  whom  she  could  soar  finally,  arm-in-arm  to  their 
native  star,  with  no  changes  of  any  consequence  between  their 
earthly  and  their  astral  communion." — vol.  iii.  p.  64. 

"But  virtue,  if  nothing  more,  and  no  sooner,  is  its  own  reward, 
and  in  time  to  save  its  bacon." — p.  90. 

"  To  the  keeper  of  Congress  Hall  the  restoration  of  the  Mil- 
lennium would  have  been  a  rushlight  to  this  second  advent  of 
fun  and  fashiondom." — p.  99. 

"  If  she  could  have  protruded  from  the  flounce  of  her  dress  a 
foot  more  like  a  mincing  little  muscle,  and  less  like  a  Jolly  fat 
clam." — p.  117. 

In  addition  to  these,  we  have  such  terms  as  ^^pocketii- 
ally  speaking,"  '•^  unletupahle  udiixirQ^^''  plumptiLude,  ivide- 
aicalceiiy,  heliceenity^  rjo-aivayness. 

Mr.  Brockden  Brown,  also  an  American,  uses  dispro- 
portionate epithets  and  pedantic  expressions.     Simple 


110  TALKEE-TALKEE. 

matters  require  simple  terms,  and  such  as  are  in  com- 
mon use.  ^^r.  Brown,  in  sucli  examples  as  the  fol- 
lowing, violates  this  obvious  and  natural  principle. 
Thus:— 

"I  was  franglU  with  the  persuasion  that  my  life  was  cndan- 
gcrod." 

"The  outer  door  was  ajar;  I  shut  it  with  trombling  eagerness, 
and  drew  every  liolt  that  was  (tppijuhd  to  it." 

"  His  brain  seemed  to  swell  beyond  its  continent." 

"  I  waited  till  their  slow  and  harsher  inspirations  showed  them 
to  be  both  a.sleep ;  just  then,  on  changing  my  positton,  my  head 
struck  against  something  which  di-pended  from  the  ceiling." 

The  terms  fratijht,  appended,  coiitinent,  inspirations, 
depaided,  ill  accord  with  the  simplicity  of  the  subject. 


CllAPTEll   V 

TALKEE-TALKEE. 


AxoTiiEU  mode  of  corrupting  a  language,  and  one 
from  which  the  Knglish,  a.s  well  as  other  languages,  is 
liable  to  sufier,  consists  in  adapting  it  to  the  stan<lard 
and  caprice  of  ignorance  and  vulgarity.  Would  it  not 
have  been  much  better,  for  in.stance,  if  the  Moravian 
miasionarie.s  had  adopted  the  simple  authcjrized  version 
of  the  New  Testament  amongst  the  Negroes,  in  the 
I'^ngli.sh  West  India  Colonies,  in  preference  to  the 
hideous  corruptions  and  abominations  whicli  they  have 
sanctioned  in  j)rint?     Take  the  following  specimens, 


CORRUPTION  FROM  EXTRANEOUS  WORDS.    117 

extracted  from  the  "Quarterly  Eeview,"  No.  76.     The 
subject  is  the  Marriage  Feast  in  Cana  of  Galilee. 

"Drie  deli  na  bakka,  dem  holi  "wan  bruiloft  na  Cana,  na  Gali- 
lee, en  mamma  va  Jesus  been  ce  dapeh.  2.  Ma  dem  ben  kali 
Jesus,  manga  him  disciple  toe  va  kom  na  da  l)ruiloft.  2.  En  tab 
wieni  kaba,  mamma  va  Jesus  takki  na  him,  dem  no  habi  wieni 
morro.  4.  Jesus  takki  na  him  nu  mamma  noeworko  mi  habi 
nanga  joe.     Tern  va  mi  no  ben  kom  jette,"  &c. 

Translation.  "  Three  days  after  back,  them  hold  one  marriage 
in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  mamma  of  Jesus  been  there.  But  them 
ben  call  Jesus  with  him  disciples  to  come  to  that  marriage,  and 
when  wine  end,  mamma  of  Jesus  talk  to  him.  Them  no  have 
wine  more.  Jesus  talk  to  him,  me  mamma,  how  work  me  have 
with  you.     Time  of  me  no  come  yet." 

Tarrawan,  in  this  jargon,  stands  for  t'other  one;  ne- 
brewautum,  for  never  one  time;  man-voal,  man-fowl, 
a  boy;  snekki-family,  snaky-family,  a  generation  of 
vipers.  The  whole  is  ridiculous,  base,  and  shocking  to 
the  feelings.  To  confer  upon  such  stuff  the  factitious 
dignity  of  print  is  a  miserable  degradation  of  a  sacred 
subject,  and  a  mistaken  policy  indeed. 


CHAPTER    yi. 

CORRUPTION  ARISING  FROM  WORDS  ALTOGETHER 
EXTRANEOUS. 

Certain  terms  have  been  introduced  into  tlie  En- 
glish language  which  claim  no  kindred  or  acquaintance 
with  it.     They  have  no  affinity  either  with  the  stock 


118         CORRUPTION  FROM  EXTRANEOUS  WORDS. 

from  which  tlie  language  has  sprung,  or  with  its  more 
recent  ramifications.  They  arc  often  vile  mutilations 
of  some  remote  and  ill  understood  original.  D'Israeli, 
in  his  "Curiosities  of  Literature,"  gives  the  following 
explanation  of  the  phrase  run  a  muck: — 

"A  strong  spirit  of  play  characterizes  the  Malayan.  After 
havinjr  rcsijrnctl  cvcrytliinfr  to  the  good  fortune  of  the  winner, 
he  is  reduceil  to  a  horrid  state  of  despondency,  lie  then  loo.seus 
a  lock  of  hair,  which  indicates  war  and  destruction  to  all  whom 
the  raging  gamester  may  meet,  lie  intoxicates  himself  with 
opium,  and,  working  himself  up  to  a  fit  of  frenzy,  he  bites,  or 
perhaps  kills,  any  one  who  may  come  in  his  way.  IJut  as  soon 
as  this  lock  is  seen  flowing,  it  is  lawful  to  ftro  at  him,  and  destroy 
him  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  Malay  term  is  amuco,  which  we  have  corrupted  to 
a  muck,  and  from  this  we  have  framed  to  run  a  muck. 
The  phra.se  is  used  to  designate  a  furious  and  indis- 
criminate onset : — 

"Thus  frontlcss,  and  satire-proof,  he  scours  the  strcctfl, 
An  runs  an  Indian  muck  at  all  he  moet.s."  Duyden. 

"Satire's  my  weapon;  but  I'm  too  discreet 
To  run  a  viuck,  and  tilt  at  all  1  meet."  Pope. 

Niijhl-marc.  "Mara  was  a  Finland  ilf,  in  the  Scandinavian 
mytholop)'.  Varland,  who  ruled  over  the  Upsal  domain,  was 
bewitclicil  by  this  elf  lIi;  became  drowsy,  and  hiid  himself 
down  to  slocp:  but,  when  he  had  slept  but  a  little  while,  he  cried 
out.  Haying  .Mara  was  treading  on  him;  but,  when  they  took 
hold  of  his  head,  she  trod  upon  his  legs,  and  when  they  laid  hold 
of  his  legs,  she  pressed  upon  hia  head,  and  it  was  his  death. 

"  .\nd  Varland  in  a  fatal  hour 
Was  liragg'd  by  (Jrimcliiid's  daughter's  power. 
The  witch's  wif«-.  to  the  dwtlliiig-placc 
Where  men  meet  Udiu  face  to  face  ; 


EFFECTS  OF  COLONIZATION.  119 

Trampled  to  death  by  Skyta's  shore, 

His  corse  his  faithful  followers  bore, 

And  there  they  burn'd  with  heavy  hearts, 

The  good  chief  killed — killed  by  witchcraft's  arts." 

Laing's  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Norioay. 

Assassin.  The  word  Assassin,  according  to  Lane  in 
his  "  Modern  Egypt,"  is  derived  from  the  Arabic  word 
hhash-shash,  signifying  a  smoker,  or  eater  of  hemp, 
which  has  an  intoxicating  effect.  The  name  was  first 
given  to  Arab  warriors  in  Syria,  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades,  who  made  use  of  intoxicating  and  soporific 
drugs  in  order  to  render  their  enemies  insensible.  In 
such  a  state,  they  would  be  unprepared  for  resistance, 
and  fall  easy  victims  to  the  murderer. 

Jacobite.  The  same  author  gives  the  following  ex- 
planation of  the  origin  of  the  term  JacoLiie.  A  sect  of 
Christian  Copts  were  called  Ya-a-chibeh,  or  Ya-a-cheo- 
bees,  Jacobites,  from  Jacobus  Barodajus,  a  Syrian,  who 
was  a  chief  propagator  of  the  Eutychian  heresy.  Those 
who  adhered  to  the  Greek  faith  were  called  Melchees; 
that  is  to  say,  Royalist,  because  they  agreed  in  faith 
with  the  Emperor  Constantiue. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

EFFECTS  OF  COLONIZATION. 


Colonization  has  a  tendency  not  only  to  add  to  the 
words  of  a   language,  but  also  to  corrupt  it.     New 


12^)  EFFECTS  OF  COLONIZATIOX. 

scenes,  new  objects,  new  habits  of  life,  call  forth  new 
expressions,  at  the  same  time  that  words,  in  many 
cases,  deviate  from  their  original  signification.  Many 
words  have  crept  into  the  English  language,  in  America, 
which  are  quite  new  to  it;  others  have  changed  their 
meaning;  others  are  merely  fanciful.  From  America 
we  have  adopted  to  j^^'ogress,  to  effectuate.  Clever^  in 
America,  has  gained  a  meaning  which  it  does  not  ex- 
press in  England ;  as,  a  clever  house,  a  clever  son,  a  clever 
cargo.  Slick,  hedge,  loss,  absquatulate,  are  from  America; 
nor  do  we  quite  understand  what  is  meant  by  a  tall 
smell.  Political  parties  ftre  there  designated  by  terms 
which  have  never  been  applied  to  anything,  living  or 
dead,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic;  so  that,  looking  at 
the  English  language,  as  improved  by  Americanisms, 
there  is  some  reason  for  a  New  York  Negro  barber's 
saying  to  Mr.  Fearon,  "You  speak  English  pretty 
well,  for  a  Britisher."  The  inhabitants  of  dilVcrent 
localities  receive  their  appropriate  nicknames,  under- 
stood and  relished  on  the  spot,  but  unmeaning  to  the 
uninitiated.  What  do  we  understand  by  Suckers,  Pulces, 
Wolverines,  Ifoosiers,  Coiiicrackers,  Buckeyes,  and  Ring- 
iailcd- Roarers?  A  man  may  have  emigrated  from  the 
old  country  under  the  name  of  Jack  Smith.  It  may, 
however,  be  in  vain  to  inquire  for  him  under  this 
name,  as,  without  a  patent,  he  has  perhaps  assumed  the 
name  of  Pojntlorwa  Jlightower,  of  Goose-creek. 

These  vagaries  are,  however,  harmless  in  themselves; 
and,  if  they  tickle  the  fancy  of  the  communities  into 
which  they  are  from  time  to  time  introduced,  they  nuiy 
be  looked  upon  as  minor  contributions  to  the  sum  of 


SUMMARY.  121 

human  happiness.  The  -world,  without  a  dash  of  non- 
sense, would  scarcely  be  worth  living  in,  and.  our  Trans- 
Atlantic  kindred  have  their  full  share  of  dry  humor. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

SUMMARY. 

It  is  not,  then,  so  much  individual  terms  which  tend 
to  corrupt  a  language,  for  these  have  no  effect  on  the 
structure  of  the  language;  it  is  rather  the  licentious 
and  pedantic  introduction  of  foreign  -phrases  and  idioms, 
never  to  be  justified,  except  in  peculiar  cases  of  neces- 
sity. In  a  language  so  copious  as  the  English  is  now, 
such  necessity  will  seldom  arise. 

"  Surely,  far  more  dear 
Is  pfood  plain  English  to  an  English  car 
Than  lisp'd  out  phrases  stol'n  from  every  clime, 
And  strangely  alter'd  to  conceal  the  crime. 
Yet  without  French,  how  dull  the  page  would  look  ! 
Must  no  italics  mark  when  speaks  a  duke  ? 
Must  peers  and  beauties  flirt  in  common  print, 
And  no  small  letters  mark  a  statesman's  hint?" 

The  Novel,  a  Satire. 

As  Butler  says,  shall  men 

"  Be  natives  wheresoe'cr  they  roam, 
And  only  foreigners  at  home  ?" 

Ilear  the   beautifully  expressed   lament  of  Arthur 
Golding  on  the  too  free  introduction  even  of  classical 
11 


122  SUMMAllY. 

terms  in  his  day.     The  verses  are  prefixed  to  Baret's 
"Alviarie,"1560:— 

"  All  good  iiitlitiMs  fiiiil 
Our  English  tongue  driven  almost  out  of  niiud, 
Dismembered,  hackfed,  maimed,  rent,  and  tornfe, 
Defuc'd,  putch'd,  marr'd,  and  made  a  skornfe." 

He  then  adds : — 

"  No  doubt  but  men  would  shortly  find  there  is 

As  perfect  order,  as  firm  certaintie, 
As  grounded  rules,  to  try  out  things  amiss, 

As  much  sweet  grace,  as  sweet  varietie 

Of  words  and  jihrases.  as  good  quantitie 
For  verse  uud  prose,  in  Kuglish  every  way, 
As  any  common  language  hath  this  daie. 

"  And  were  we  given  as  well  to  like  our  owue. 

And  for  to  cleanse  it  from  the  nnisomc  weede 
Of  (ifT'dfition,  which  hath  overgrowne 

Ungraciously  the  good  and  native  seed. 

As  for  to  burriiw  ichi  re  in-  liare  uo  uud. 
It  would  prick  near  the  learned  tongues  in  strength. 
Perchance,  and  match  me  some  of  them  at  length." 

If  observations  like  these  were  called  for  in  1500;  if 
80  strong  a  protest  as  this  was  entered  against  the  too 
free  introduction  of  terms  borrowed  from  the  classics 
at  that  period,  how  much  more  strongly  have  we  rea- 
son to  protest  against  the  introduction  of  continental 
frivolities  in  the  present  day?  The  language  in  which 
Shakspcaro,  Milton,  Dryden,  Tope,  and  IJyron,  and 
many  other  eminent  poets,  have  sung;  in  wliich  Hume, 
and  Robertson,  and  Gibbon  have  narrated;  in  which 
Addison,  Swift,  and  Johnson  have  written  ;  in  which 
Burke,  and  Pitt,  and  Fox,  and  Siieridan  have  spoken. 


SUMMARY.  123 


needs  not  to  ask  alms  of  its  neighbors.  It  has  done 
with  them,  except  where  the  improvements  in  arts  and 
sciences,  and  the  introduction  of  new  commodities, 
render  the  use  of  adventitious  terms  necessary.  It  has 
already  culled  the  sweets,  and  made  them  its  own. 

"The  Italian,"  says  Camden,  "is  pleasant,  but  witliout  sinews, 
like  a  still  fleeting  water.  The  French  delicate,  but  ever  nice, 
as  a  woman  scarce  daring  to  open  her  lips,  for  fear  of  marring 
her  countenance.  The  Spanish  majestical,  but  fulsome,  running 
too  much  on  the  o,  and  terrible  like  the  divell  in  a  play.  The 
Dutch  manlike,  but  withal  very  harsh,  as  one  ready,  at  every 
word,  to  pick  a  quarrel.  Now  we,  in  borrowing  from  them,  give 
the  strength  of  consonants  to  the  Italian,  the  full  sound  of  words 
to  the  French,  the  variety  of  terminations  to  the  Spanish,  and  the 
mollyfying  of  more  vowels  to  the  Dutch  ;  and  so,  like  bees,  gather 
the  honey  from  their  good  properties,  and  leave  the  dregs  to  them- 
selves ;  and  thus,  when  sicbsiantialnesse  combinethwith  deliglitful- 
nesse,  andfullnesse  witlifinenesse,  seemlinesseivithportlhiesse,  and 
currentnesse  ivith  stayednesse,  Tioio  can  the  language  that  con- 
ststeth  of  all  these  sound  other  than  most  full  of  sioeetnesse  I" 


12-i 


PAPvT    III. 

GRAMMATICAL 


SECTION  I. 


THE  PRESENT  STRl.'CTLIRH  OF    llli:  1:N(;LI.<II 
LANUUAUE. 

CnAPTKU    I. 

IXTRODUCTIOX. 

Amidst  the  multiiudinous  accomplishments  of  the 
present  age,  a  knowledge  of  English  grammar  is  by 
no  means  a  common  qualification.  Many  sjicak  and 
write  tlicir  mother  tongtie  with  general  accuracy,  it  is 
true,  who  at  the  same  time  possess  but  a  very  super- 
ficial knowledge  of  its  grammatical  structure.  We 
cannot  call  that  man  a  skilful  anatomist  whose  know- 
ledge docs  not  extend  beyond  the  outward  configura- 
tion of  the  human  subject,  and  who  is  ignorant  of  those 
combinations  of  animal  machinery  which  give  life  and 
action.  So  also  the  stringing  together  of  certain  set 
phrases  and  authorized  expressions,  with  a  correct  ear 
for  imitation,  will  often  hide  a  multitude  of  infirmities 
which  would  soon  become  apparent  in  circumstances  of 


INTKODUCTION.  125 

diificulty,  or  under  unusual  tests.  If  a  knowledge  of 
the  strict  meaning  of  words,  their  arrangement  in  a 
sentence,  and  their  relation  to,  and  dependence  upon  each 
other,  is  requisite  in  any  one  kind  of  composition,  more 
than  in  another,  it  is  in  the  construction  of  legal  docu- 
ments. Property,  character,  life,  and  death  hang  upon 
their  very  syllables  and  letters ;  and  yet  one  of  the 
acutest  lawyers  of  modern  times  has  declared  that  he 
had  never  seen  an  act  of  parliament  through  which  he 
would  not  drive  a  "coach  and  six;"  that  is,  in  less 
figurative  language,  in  which  there  were  not  loopholes 
of  very  commodious  dimensions.  Surely  such  laxity, 
ambiguity,  and  confusion  are  altogether  inconsistent 
with  a  strict  knowledge  of  grammar,  and  an  unam- 
biguous arrangement  of  words. 

If  we  look  back  to  many  of  the  standard  authors 
even  of  the  last  century,  we  shall,find  that  they  abound 
in  grammatical  errors,  in  almost  every  conceivable 
form,  and  my  object  will  be  to  show,  by  example  and 
argument,  that  the  statement  is  not  overcharged.  Nor 
do  I  wish  to  confine  this  charge  to  writers  of  the  last, 
and  of  preceding  centuries.  It  is  applicable,  in  a  very 
serious  degree,  to  many  of  the  most  popular  authors  of  the 
present  age.  "  Hence,"  as  observed  by  a  writer  in  "  Black- 
wood's Magazine,"  in  an  article  entitled  "Elements  of 
Khetoric," — "hence  an  anomaly,  not  found,  perhaps,  in 
any  literature  but  ours,  that  the  most  eminent  English 
writers  do  not  write  their  mother  tongue  without  con- 
tinual violations  of  propriety.  With  the  single  excep- 
tion of  Mr.  Wordsworth,  who  has  paid  an  honorable 
attention  to  the  purity  and  accuracy  of  his  English,  we 

11* 


126  IXTRODUCTION. 

believe  tbat  there  is  not  one  celebrated  author  of  this 
day  who  has  written  two  pages  consecutively  without 
some  flagrant  impropriety  in  the  grammar;  such  as  the 
eternal  confusion  of  the  preterite  with  the  past  parti- 
ciple, confusion  of  verbs  transitive  with  intransitive, 
&c.  &c.,  or  some  violation,  more  or  less,  icilh  the  ver- 
nacular idiom.''  This  is  not  only  true  as  an  assertion, 
but  the  writer  has  himself  also  inadvertently  given  us 
an  example  of  that  which  he  was  in  the  very  act  of 
justly  condemning;  for  it  is  not  consistent  with  the 
English  idiom  to  say  a  violation  icilh  a  principle  or  a 
rule,  but  a  violation  of  a  principle  or  a  rule.  The 
author  had  previously  said  "violation  0/ propriety." 
The  observation,  indeed,  made  by  Swift,  in  a  remon- 
strance addressed  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  is  still  appli- 
cable— that,  "  in  many  instances,  it  (the  English  lan- 
guage) oflcnded  against  every  pari  of  grammar." 

Much  has  been  done  of  late  years  in  cultivating  the 
grammar  of  the  English  language.  This,  added  to  the 
more  general  diffusion  of  education,  has  banished  some 
of  those  flagrant  errors  which  were  by  no  means  un- 
common in  English  composition ;  whilst  our  unbounded 
social  intercourse,  conversation,  and  collision  of  senti- 
ment, together  with  the  necessity  of  daily  composition 
imposed  upon  public  men,  have  given  a  facility  of 
writing  unknown  to  former  times.  The  articles  which 
appear  in  many  of  the  leading  public  papers  frequently 
allord  the  finest  specimens  of  powerful  and  accurate 
composition.  They  con.stitute,  in  fact,  an  essential  part 
of  the  literature  of  the  day. 

There  are  many  to  whom  the  observations  which  I 


INTKODUCTION.  127 

am  about  to  offer  may  appear  unnecessary;  but  sucTi 
must  bear  in  mind  that  tliere  are  others  to  whom  those 
very  observations  may  be  both  novel  and  useful.  It 
must  also  be  admitted  that  we  require  to  be,  now  and 
then,  reminded  of  that  which  was  once  familiar  to  us; 
and  that  a  subject  is  sometimes  presented  in  a  new  and 
a  stronger  light  than  that  in  which  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  view  it ;  and  that  some  things  worthy  of  at- 
tention may  yet  have  altogether  escaped  our  notice. 
In  pursuing  my  object,  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  princi- 
ples and  reasons;  for  a  principle  once  understood  is 
never  forgotten.  It  is,  in  grammar,  what  a  physical 
principle  is  to  the  man  of  science — he  never  forgets  it, 
and  never  misapplies  it.  A  principle  is  a  landmark,  to 
which  we  can  always  look  forward  in  doubt  and  per- 
plexity. It  is  a  pedestal  on  which  we  can  take  our 
stand  prepared  to  climb  higher  and  higher,  but  never 
to  descend. 

These  pages,  then,  are  offered  as  a  small  contribution 
to  an  object  in  which  much  still  remains  to  be  done. 
Too  many  persons  are  satisfied  if  they  can  but  find  a 
certain  phrase  absolutely  in  print ;  they  are  more  than 
satisfied — they  are  triumphant^  if  they  can  appeal  to  an 
author  of  reputation.  Such  a  practice  must  ever  have 
a  tendency  to  perpetuate  error.  That  which  is  right 
is  right,  without  any  authority  at  all;  and  that  which 
is  wrong  cannot  be  made  right  by  any  authority.  If 
the  following  observations  on  the  "Structure  of  the 
English  Language"  should  attain  no  other  object  than 
that  of  shaking  this  misplaced  confidence,  they  will 
not  have  been  offered  in  vain. 


128  ORIGIN  OF  THE 

I  shall  not  enter  into  the  vexed  question  as  to  the 
number  of  the  "Parts  of  Speech"  requisite  for  the  ex- 
pression of  our  ideas.  Two  thousand  years  have  added 
nothing  new  to  the  subject;  and  though  there  may  be 
much  that  is  ingenious  in  such  discussions,  to  the 
general  reader  there  is  not  much  that  is  practically 
useful.  The  Parts  of  Speech,  as  usually  received,  will 
be  admitted  without  question  ;  and  the  prominent  pro- 
perties and  positions  of  each  in  the  English  Language 
as  now  constructed,  will  be  briefly  exhibited.  The 
limited  nature  of  this  work  will  not  admit  of  more. 
Under  the  general  head  of  "Structure,"  I  propose  to 
explain  the  origin  of  the  "Parts  of  Speech;"  to  give 
examples  of  false  grammar,  and  the  false  position  of 
terms,  and  to  contrast  them  with  sentences  grammati- 
cally and  properly  constructed:  to  notice  the  effect  of 
connecting  particles  when  repeated,  or  omitted  and 
understood  ;  and  cursorily  to  examine  and  discuss  some 
of  the  unsettled  idioms  of  the  language. 


C  11  A  I'T  !•:  KIT. 

OUIGIN  OF  TIIK  PARTS  OK  Sl'KKCir. 

A  LL  languages  that  ever  existed  arc  founded  upon  the 
same  grammatical  principles,  in  all  their  great  essen- 
tials. He,  therefore,  who  understands  the  philosophical 
principles  on  which  any  one  language  is  founded,  has 
got  the  substance  of  the  grammar  of  every  other,  though 


PARTS  OF  SPEECH.  129 

he  has  not  got  the  form.  Before,  therefore,  we  can 
show  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  one  language,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  show  in  what  respect  it  differs 
from  other  kindred  languages,  in  particular;  or  even 
from  more  remote  languages.  All  languages  arrive  at 
the  same  end,  but  by  different  forms,  and  in  different 
degrees  of  perfection. 

The  Noun  Substantive. 

All  languages  must  have  terms  to  express  things — 
they  must  have  the  names  of  things ;  for  without  these 
the  first  step  to  language  would  be  wanting.  This 
gives  rise  to  the  noun,  or  naine — the  corresponding 
term,  in  Greek  and  Latin,  signifying  simply  Jiame.  As 
language  advances,  there  must  be  terms  expressive  of 
the  state  or  condition  of  things.  This  leads  to  the  origin 
of  the 

Koun  Adjective. 

As  the  noun  substantive  simply  expresses  the  substance 
or  being  of  a  thing,  as  tree,  so  the  noun  adjective  ex- 
presses some  attribute  of  the  noun  substantive,  as  high 
tree.  The  noun  substantive,  then,  expresses  the  being 
of  a  thing  only;  the  noun  adjective,  as  the  word  implies, 
is  a  name  added  to  express,  either  the  essence  of  a  thing, 
or  some  contingent  quality  belonging  to  it. 

Pronoun, 

But,  as  it  would  be  inconvenient  to  repeat  the  name 
of  a  thing,  over  and  over  again,  in  a  sentence,  another 


130  OIUGIX  OF  THE 

part  of  speech  has  been  invented,  to  supply  its  place, 
and  this  is  called  a  pronoun — that  is,  something  sub- 
stituted for  a  noun — o.  for-noun.  By  the  use  of  the 
pronoun  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  noun  is  avoided. 
How  convenient  the  use  of  the. pronoun  is,  may  be  seen 
from  such  a  sentence  as  the  following: — 

"But  think  on  Joseph,  when  it  shall  be  well  with  thee  (tbeo 
bcinff  used  in  the  place  of  the  liutlcr's  name),  and  show  kindnessi 
Joseph  prays  thee,  unto  Jbsep/j,  and  make  mention  of  Joseph  unto 
Phanioh,  and  bring  Josepli  out  of  this  house,  for  indeed  Joseph 
was  stolen  away  from  the  land  of  the  Hebrews,  and  here  also 
Jiisiph  has  done  nothing  that  they  should  put  Joseph  into  tho 
flunireon." 


r 


If  we  substitute  tlie  pronoun  /for  the  nominative  case 
of  Joseph^  and  me  for  the  objective,  we  avoid  the  fre- 
quent and  inconvenient  repetition  of  the  noun  Joseph. 

The  Article. 

In  modern  languages,  the  article  is  considered  a  ne- 
cessary part  of  speech.  Tiie  Latin  language  is  defect- 
ive, on  account  of  tiic  want  of  the  article,  and  is  obliged 
to  have  recourse  to  the  use  of  the  demonstrative  pro- 
nouns on  occasions  when  a  definite  and  specific  designa- 
tion is  wanted.  The  Greek  language  would  .say  ol 
Awiixo ;  Oie  Knglish,  the  twelve ;  the  Latin,  illi  duodecim, 
tho.sc  twelve.  When  Virgil  says,  "  Fas  odisse  viros,^^ 
tho  word  viros,  signifying  men,  does  not  designate  any 
particular  men,  though  that  designation  is  intended. 
In  the  (j reek,  indeHnite  signification  was  marked  simply 
by  the  ab.'ienee  of  the  definite  article.  IMiis  is  an  eco- 
nomy of  which  the  (Jrcek  is  not  oflen  guilty;  for  it 
is  in  general  the  most  prodigal  of  languages.     Thus, 


PARTS  OF  SPEECH.  131 

K%^apxoi  would  signify  "  one  Clearchus,"  but  6  K%.rjapxoi, 
the  Clearchus,  already  mentioned:  rtaaa  a^j^Osia,  all  truth  ; 

■^  rtocja  aXr^dsia,  all   iJie  truth. 

The  Verb. 

With  the  noun  substantive,  the  noun  adjective,  and 
the  article,  we  cannot,  however,  form  a  sentence,  or 
even  a  simple  proposition  ;  because  as  yet  we  have  no 
affirmation  or  negation,  one  of  which  is  essential  to  a 
proposition.  The  word  or  part  of  speech  which  effects 
this  is  called  the  verb,  or  the  loord — the  icord  of  ivords. 
A  verb  is  the  vital  principle  of  a  sentence — it  is  the 
moving  power.  The  Chinese  most  happily  call  verbs 
live  ivords,  nouns  dead  icords,  and  all  other  parts  of 
speech  auxiliaries;  and  it  is  a  singular  coincidence  that 
the  Chinese  should  have  hit  precisely  the  notion  of  the 
Greek  grammarians,  who  designated  verbs  ra  cix-^xotafa 
tav  xoyot),  the  most  animated  parts  of  speech.  A  noun 
and  a  verb  of  themselves  may  constitute  a  perfect  pro- 
position ;  as,  man  dies.  Here  we  have  a  subject,  man, 
and  we  assign  or  attribute  to  man  that  he  dies.  We 
have,  therefore,  a  subject  and  an  attribute,  with  an 
affirmation,  and  the  sentence  is  perfect.  On  this  ac- 
count, some  of  the  ancient  grammarians  allowed  only 
two  parts  of  speech — nouns  and  verbs.  All  others  they 
considered  as  auxiliaries  only.  There  are,  however, 
different  kinds  of  verbs,  as  active  transitive,  active  in- 
transitive, and  passive;  active  transitive,  as,  Caesar  con- 
quered Britain ;  passive,  as,  Britain  was  conquered  by 
Ca3sar ;  active  intransitive,  that  is,  when  the  action  of 
the  verb  does  not  fall  on  a  noun,  but  is  simply  confined 


132  ORIGIN  OF  THE 

to  the  af:jent,  as,  vian  tlimlcs,  birds  Jly,  or  a  verb  may 
imply  simple  existence,  and  it  is  then  denominated  a 
verb  substantive^  that  is,  a  verb  implying  the  substantia 
or  being  of  a  thing. 

The  Participle. 

Another  part  of  speech  is  called  a  participle,  that  is, 
a  jxirtaJcer,  inasmuch  as  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a 
verb,  and  also  of  a  noun  adjective;  as,  the  mother  bv- 
ing  her  child.  Ilere  the  word  loving  implies  to  love, 
and  it  also  implies  time  ot  tense,  indefinitely  or  definitely, 
according  to  circumstances.  So  far,  it  possesses  the 
nature  of  a  verb.  But  it  also  expresses  an  attribute — 
a  capability  of  loving,  and  so  far  it  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  au  adjective;  so  do  having  loved,  being  loved, 
having  been  loved,  about  to  love,  about  to  be  loved.  This 
part  of  speech  is,  therefore,  called  a.  jmrticij)^,  or  parti- 
cipator. In  Englit^h,  like  the  other  parts  of  speech,  it 
is  very  simple  in  form  ;  in  Greek,  it  is  quite  the  con- 
trary, running  through  a  great  variety  of  forms. 

The  remaining  parts  of  speech  —  namely.  Adverb, 
Conjunction,  Preposition,  and  Interjection — in  Knglish 
never  vary  their  form,  however  applied,  and  may  bo 
considered  more  than  others  as  subsiiliary  jjarts  of 
speech. 

The  Adverb. 

An  adverb,  as  iis  name  implies,  ad  vcrbuni,  is  gene- 
rally joined  to  a  verb,  in  order  to  indicate  its  mode,  or 
its  intensity  of  action  ;  as,  he  behaved  unmerci/nlli/, 
that  is,  in  an  unmerciful  manner;  the  arrow  iiaw sui/tli/: 


PARTS  OF  SPEECH.  133 

or  it  is  joined  to  an  adjective,  to  qualify  its  signification; 
as,  simply  elegant,  incomparahhj  beautiful. 

The  Preposition. 

A  preposition,  as  the  name  implies,  is  something  set 
before — that  is,  set  before  a  word,  as  to  him,  with  him, 
hj  him,  from  him,  &c. ;  or  it  enters  into  composition 
with  a  noun,  as  abstinence— or  with  an  adjective,  as 
antediluvian — or  with  a  participle,  as,  over-grown — or 
with  a  verb,  as,  distribute,  over-rate.  In  English,  the 
preposition  is  always  followed  by  the  objective  case; 
but,  the  objective  case  being  the  same  as  the  nomina- 
tive, the  distinction  is  not  outwardly  visible.  If  we  use 
the  pronoun  after  the  preposition,  the  principle  is  im- 
mediately evident;  as,  to  him,  with  him,  by  him,  &c. ; 
and  to  he,  with  he,  by  he. 

The  Conjunction. 

Conjunctions  are  used  to  couple  either  words  or 
sentences  together,  and  are  denominated  copulative  or 
disjunctive;  as,  John  and  Thomas,  neither  John  nor 
Thomas ;  this  and  that,  either  this  or  that ;  nor  being 
the  correlative  of  neither,  or  of  either.  Conjunctions 
couple  like  cases  of  nouns  and  tenses  of  verbs;  as,  you 
neither  respect  him  nor  me;  him  and  me  being  in  the 
objective  case.  As  both  these  words,  him  and  me, 
essentially  depend  upon  the  verb  respect,  it  is  obvious 
that  we  cannot  say  respect  /.  In  composition,  much  of 
the  appropriateness  and  beauty  of  a  sentence  depends 
upon  the  repetition,  or  the  entire  absence,  of  the  con- 
junction, according  to  the  purport  of  the  sentence. 


134  ORIGIN  OF  TIIE  I'AKTS  OF  SPEECH. 

The  Interjection. 

An  interjection,  as  its  name  implies,  is  something 
thrown  in — an  ejaculation,  in  no  way  afTecting  the 
crruinmatical  structure  of  a  sentence:  it  falls  neither 
under  logical  nor  grammatical  consideration;  as,  lie, 
alas!  perished,  at  an  early  age.  Many  interjections  are 
inarticulate  sounds,  such  as  proceed  from  irrational 
creatures,  and  are  merely  symptomatic  of  pleasure  or 
pain. 

In  English,  then,  we  have  ten  parts  of  speech,  all  of 
which  may  occur  in  a  single  sentence,  though  the  noun 
and  the  verb,  of  themselves,  are  capable  of  forming  a 
perfect  proposition;  as,  man  iliinks.  Here  we  have  a 
subject,  7/mu,  to  whom  we  attribute  or  assign  the  fticulty 
of  thinking.  We  have  therefore  a  subject,  of  which 
wc  afTirm  .something — that  is,  a  ])erfcct  proposition. 
Or,  again,  a  proposition  contains  a  subject,  an  attribute, 
and  an  object;  as,  vice  j)^oduces  miserij.  Here  vice  is 
the  subject  of  which  wc  speak,  and  we  predicate  of  it 
that  it  produces  something,  which  something  is  misery. 
The  term  niisery  is  the  object.  It  is  that  to  which  the 
action  of  the  verb  products  is  directed  ;  it  is  the  object 
on  which  it  falls.  By  introducing  other  words,  as  aux- 
iliaries, we  may  employ,  in  this  one  proposition,  all  the 
different  parts  of  speech.  We  may  say,  "a  gross  vice 
produces  misery."  Here,  then,  we  have  the  addition  of 
an  article  and  a  noun  ailjective.  Wc  may  go  further, 
and  wc  may  .say,  "a  gro.s3  vice,  corrupting  the  reason 
and  the  heart,  in  tiie  end,  alas!  certainly  produces 
misery."  Here  the /ruTneicor/c  is  vice  produces  misery. 
All  the  otlier  parts  of  speech  which  enter  into  the  com- 


GRAMMAR  REGARDS  CONSTRUCTIOX  ONLY.        135 

position  of  this  sentence  are  subsidiary.  In  the  con- 
struction of  a  sentence,  then,  the  subject,  the  attribute, 
and  the  object  should  always  be  kept  distinctly  in  view. 


CHAPTER    III. 

GRAMMAR  REGARDS  CONSTRUCTION  ONLY. 

Now,  Grammar  strictly  regards  the  construction  of 
a  sentence,  and  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
truth  or  falsehood  of  a  irroposition.  A  proposition  may 
be  strictly  grammatical  and  true ;  as,  man  is  mortal ; 
or  false,  as,  man  is  a  horse.  Both  sentences  are  gram- 
matical; but  the  one  true,  the  other  false.  If,  however, 
a  proposition  is  wngrammatical,  properly  speaking,  it 
has  no  meaning  at  all.  We  may  guess  at  the  author's 
or  speaker's  meaning ;  but,  strictly  considered,  an  un- 
grammatical,  and  therefore  an  incongruous  and  incon- 
sistent sentence  has  no  definite  meaning.  If  we  say, 
"  John  were  the  persons  who  didst  it"  we  have  first  a  noun 
singular,  and  individual,  John,  joined  to  a  verb,  icere, 
denoting  plurality ;  and  again,  a  plural  noun,  i^ersons^ 
having  reference  to  a  singular  and  individual  noun, 
John ;  and  again,  a  verb  of  the  second  person,  didst,  re- 
ferring to  a  pronoun  of  the  third  person,  the  relative 
ivho  being  of  course  of  the  same  person  as  the  noun  to 
which  it  relates.  We  may  guess  at  the  meaning  in- 
tended ;  but,  technically  speaking,  such  a  sentence  has 
no  meaning  at  all.     Without  rules  of  construction, 


135  NUMBERS  OF  NOUNS. 

therefore,  to  fix  the  meaning  of  language,  the  compli- 
cated aftair.s  of  civilized  life  could  not  be  conducted. 
All  would  be  error  and  uncertainty.  Grammatical  ar- 
rangement, then,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  essential 
meaning  of  words.  As  a  matter  of  grammar,  it  is  im- 
material whether  we  say,  man  is  a  vejciahk,  or  man  is 
an  animal. 


SECTION  II. 
GRAMMATICAL  CONSTRUCTION  OF  NOUNS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

NUMBER  OF  NOUNS. 

To  begin  with  the  Noun.  Logically  speaking,  there 
is  a  variety  of  nouns ;  grammatically,  all  are  looked 
upon  as  names;  and,  whether  common  or  individual, 
are  all  subject  to  the  same  rules.  First,  then,  let  us 
consider  nouns  with  respect  to  their  unity  and  plurality. 
The  Greek  and  some  other  languages  have  three  num- 
bers of  nouns :  the  singular,  speaking  of  one ;  the  dual, 
of  livo ;  the  plural,  of  any  number  more  than  two.  This 
makes  a  language  more  complex,  and  uselessly  so.  The 
modern  Greek  has  lost  the  dual  number.  The  Gothic 
liad  the  dual  number;  languages  derived  from  it  have 
lost  the  dual  number.  Faulkner,  a  Jesuit  of  Paraguay, 
.states  that  the  language  of  l\itagonia  has  the  dual 
number.    The  language  of  Lapland  is  said  also  to  have 


NUMBEKS  OF  NOUNS.  137 

it;  and  Crantz,  one  of  the  Moravian  missionaries,  sa3^s 
that  the  language  of  Greenland  has  a  dual  number. 
The  English  has  but  two  numbers,  the  singular  and  the 
'plural;  the  singular  having  reference  to  one,  the  plural 
to  any  number  more  than  one.  It  will  sometimes  hap- 
pen, however,  that  a  term,  from  its  essential  signi- 
fication, embraces  more  than  one;  but  this  plurality  is 
comprehended  in  the  mind  as  unity.  As,  corn  is  the 
staff  of  life,  variety  is  pleasing,  the  multitude  teas  in- 
numerable; corn,  variety^  multitude,  imply  a  plurality, 
but  are  comprehended  in  the  mind  as  unity.  Such 
words,  then,  though  implying  many,  may  have  a  verb 
of  the  singular  number;  each  term  being  in  itself  a 
grammatical  integrity  or  whole,  composed  of  several 
parts.  With  respect,  however,  to  nouns  of  multitude, 
we  frequently  meet  with  a  confusion  between  nouns  of 
quantity  and  nouns  of  number.  Whatever  cannot  be 
conveniently  numbered,  and  is  not  reckoned  numeri- 
cally, or  one  by  one,  we  speak  of  as  a  quaiUity ;  as,  a 
quantity  of  corn,  of  sand,  of  leaves ;  but  not  a  quantity 
of  men,  or  of  oxen,  because  these  are  usually  reckoned 
numerically,  as  four  hundred  men,  five  hundred  oxen. 

Examples. 

"  The  congregation  was  almost  exclusively  of  the  people  who 
had  attended  the  execution,  and  quantities  of  men,  as  well  as 
women,  shrouded  in  their  black  silk  faUlcttes.  were  listening  to 
a  tall,  strong  Capuchin  i'riar." — HcaiVs  Bubbles  from  the  Brun- 
nens  of  Nassau. 

"The  deserts,"  says  Adanson,  "are  entirely  barren,  except 
whore  they  are  found  to  produce  serpents,  and  in  such  quanldics, 
that  some  extensive  plains  are  almost  entirely  covered  with 
them." — Faley's  Quotation  from  Adanso7i. 

12* 


13S  >-UMBERS  OF  XOUXS. 

Numfters  in  both  cases,  though  neither  in  number  nor 
quantity  would  serpents  constitute  fertility ;  nor  is 
abundance  of  serpents  the  opposite  of  barrenness, 
when  speaking  of  the  absence  of  vegetable  productions. 

"Such  a  result  is  a  demonstration  that  no  such  law  has  ever 
been  established  in  human  nature,  because  nothing  like  even  a 
millionth  part  of  such  a  qiiantitij  has  been  produced  in  our 
world." — ^harun  Turner's  Sacred  Ilistori/. 

Again,  nnmher  of  people,  and  not  quantity.  "We  do 
not  say,  How  much  men  had  Napoleon  at  Waterloo, 
as  if  speaking  of  quantity ;  but  how  manj/,  as  speaking 
of  number. 

yoims  of  MuUUude. 

Nouns  of  multitude  sometimes  imply  a  generality 
only,  and  not  a  collective  unity.  In  such  a  case,  a 
plural  verb  is  neces.sary;  as,  in  the  following  cxamj)lo 
from  Lawrence's  "Lectures:" — 

"  Tt  has  penorally  been  observed,  that  the  European  pojtnla- 
tion  of  the  United  Slates  is  tall,  and  characterized  by  a  pale  and 
Balluw  countenance." 

Now  the  tallness  of  the  population  cannot  be  universal, 
though  it  may  bo  general.  "We  cannot  speak  of  it  as 
vnilf/f  but  as  plurality.  Wc  can  say,  with  propriety, 
the  population  is  [/reat,  because  each  individual,  what- 
ever may  bo  his  physical  or  mental  peculiarities,  is  a 
constituent  part  of  its  greatness ;  but  each  individual 
of  a  whole  population  is  not  necessarily  a  constituent 
part  of  their  tallness.  The  population  docs  not  consti- 
tute a  tall  unity.     So  also  we  can  say,  there  is  a  great 


NUMBERS  OF  NOUNS.  139 

variety  of  flowers,  because  each  flower  constitutes  a 
part  of  that  variety. 

"  That  people,"  says  Herodotus,  "  rejects  the  use  of  temples, 
of  altars,  and  of  statues,  and  smiles  at  the  folly  of  those  nations 
•who  imagine  that  the  Gods  are  sprung  from,  or  bear  any  affinity 
with,  the  human  nature." — Gibbon,  c.  viii. 

A  universality  of  smiling  is  not  necessarily  implied, 
nor  would  the  implication  of  such  a  universality  be 
necessarily  true,  though  the  implication  of  a  generality 
might  be  so;  a  generality  is  all  that  is  wanted.  TVe  do 
not,  in  this  case,  comprehend  the  whole  Persian  nation 
as  a  collective  whole.  They  are  spoken  of  distrihu- 
ttvely,  and  not  collectively.  We  therefore  expect  reject 
and  smile,  not  rejects  and  smiles. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  noun  of  the  plural 
number  is  used  simply  with  reference  to  a  space  of  time, 
taken  collectively.  In  such  a  case,  it  will  admit  of  a 
pronoun  being  joined  to  it,  though  of  the  singular  num- 
ber ;  as, 

"  I  have  ventured. 
Like  little  wanton  boys,  that  swim  on  bladders, 
Tills  many  summers,  on  a  sea  of  glory."        Shakspeare. 

As  a  general  rule,  a  noun  of  the  singular  number 
must  be  followed  by  a  verb  of  the  singular  number;  a 
noun  of  the  plural  number  by  a  verb  of  the  plural 
number;  two  or  more  nouns  of  the  singular  number, 
coupled  by  a  copulative  conjunction,  by  a  verb  of 
the  plural  number.  There  arc,  however,  exceptions 
to  this  rule,  the  force  of  which  we  are  disposed  to  allow ; 
as  when  two  nouns  have  an  indivisibility,  or  concentra- 
tion of  meaning.     Virgil  is  considered  one  of  the  most 


110  NLTMHKRS  OF  NOUNri. 

elegant,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  correct  writers  in 
the  Latin  language;  yet  we  find  : — 

"  Exoritur  clamorque  virQm,  clangorque  lubarum." 

JEnciil,  lib.  ii.  313. 
Again: — 

'•  Omnis  spcs  Danaum,  et  ccppti  fiducia  belli 
Palludis  aiixiliis  semper  sictit."  uEnciil,  lib.  ii.  1G2. 

This  may,  perhaps,  be  accounted  for  on  the  principle 
that  the  verb,  though  not  expressed,  must  be  applied  to 
the  first  noun  separately.  The  second  noun  would  then 
stand  alone,  and  require  a  verb  of  the  singular  number. 
Again,  Phifdrus, 

"  Quia  (lulor  et  gaudiuin  misrt^i  totam  vitam." 

So  in  the  New  Testament,  Matthew  xxiv.  35. 

O  ovpai'oj  xcu  jy  y>j  ftapiXivfitai. 

Again,  Matt.  xvi.  17: — 

Ort  oaj>|,  xcu  (u'ua  ovx  artfxaXv^.'  '"'*• 

Til  St.  Paul's  Epi.stlc  to  Titu.s,  wo  find  a  similar 
j)as.sage  in  the  English  tran.slation  : — 

"  But  even  their  mind  and  conscience  is  defiled." — Ch.  i.  v.  15. 

And  again,  in  the  book  of  Proverbs: — 
"  When  distresH  and  anfruisb  coiiufh  ii])on  you." — I'ror.  i.  27. 

Fii  the  case  of  a  verb  of  the  singular  number  OjIIow- 
iijg  the  two  nouns,  t,  ovpocoj  xai  i;  y*?,  there  is  a  ))eculiar 
propriety.  ^J'he  pa.ssing  away  of  these  two  objects  is 
represented  its  absolutely  siiiiultaiieous — a  diversity  of 
objects,  but  a  simultaneity  of  operation. 


CASES  OF  NOUNS.  141 

So,  again,  in  the  case  of  flesh  and  blood ;  in  their 
natural  state,  they  are  co-existent,  and  in  the  passage 
quoted  above  they  are  taken  together,  as  one  indivisible 
subject,  and  followed  by  a  verb  of  the  singular  number. 
So  also  clamor  and  clangor^  spes  and  fiducia^  mind  and 
conscience,  distress  and  anguish,  are  co-ordinates.  There 
is  a  certain  identity  of  meaning  between  the  nouns 
thus  coupled  together ;  and  even  in  the  quotation  from 
Phcedrus,  the  inseparable  mixture  of  grief  and  joy 
■which  is  found  in  human  life  is  forcibly  expressed  by  a 
verb  of  the  singular  number,  "  dolor  et  gaudium  miscet." 
These  are  exceptions  to  the  ordinary  rule  of  grammar, 
that  two  or  more  nouns  of  the  singular  number  shall  be 
followed  by  a  verb  of  the  plural  number ;  but  the  ex- 
ceptions are  founded  on  the  peculiar  signification  of  the 
terras.* 


CHAPTER  II. 

CASES  OF  NOUNS. 

The  word  case  is  derived  from  the  Latin  word  casus, 
a  fall,  the  Greek  word  used  to  denote  a  case  having 
precisely  the  same  meaning.     Grammatically  speaking, 

*  Some  nouns,  of  foreign  origin,  form  their  plurals  according 
to  the  principle  of  the  languages  from  which  they  have  been 
flcrived ;  as  arcana,  errata,  data,  genera,  radii,  vortices,  from  the 
Latin;  automata,  phenomena,  criteria,  theses,  from  the  Greek; 
Cheruliim,  Seraphim,  from  the  Hebrew ;  with  some  others.  Cus- 
tom authorizes  encomiums,  not  encomia. 


142  CASES  OF  NOUNS. 

tlie  word  case  is  used  to  express  the  condition  of  a  noun, 
tlie  relation  whicli  it  bears  to  some  other  word  or  words 
with  wliich  it  is  connected.  It  is  obvious  that  such 
condition  or  relationsliip  may  undergo  great  variation, 
and  that  cases  may  be  numerous,  varying  with  every 
conceivable  degree  of  relationship.  Hence  dillerent 
languages  liave  different  numbers  of  cases.  /»,  jvilh, 
from,  hi/,  ivilhin,  ivithottt,  above,  hoieath,  heyond,  t{*c. 
might  all  have  their  respective  cases.  Such  a  principle 
would  uselessly  add  to  the  complexity  of  language;  and 
therefore  the  number  of  cases,  in  most  languages,  has 
been  reduced  within  comparatively  narrow  bounds.  The 
Hebrew  had  four,  the  Greek  five,  the  Latin  six,  the 
Sanscrit  eight,  the  Finnish  and  Lai)landish  fourteen. 
Ficl.strom,  as  quoted  by  Bosworth,  gives  nine  cases  of 
the  Laplandish  language,  expressed  by  variable  termi- 
nations ;  as, 

Nom.  Joulkc,  n  foot.  Aid.      Joiilkcst,  from  a  foot. 

Cen.   .Toulkoii,  of  a  foot.  J'riv.     .TtMilkrt,  without  a  foot. 

Dat,    Joulkas,  to  a  foot.  !Med.     Joulkin,  with  a  foot. 

Ace.   Joulken,  a  foot.  Locat.  Joulkesn,  iu  a  foot. 
Voc.  Joulk,  a  foot. 

It  is  obvious  that  such  a  principle  might  be  extended 
far  beyond  these  limits. 

The  Kiigli.sh  has  discarded  all  useless  variations  of 
the  noun,  and  expresses  the  relationship  of  the  noun  to 
the  word  with  which  it  stands  connected  by  the  use  of 
prepo.silions.  Wc  have,  in  fact,  but  one  case  or  varia- 
tion in  the  lOngli.sh  noun — the  genitive  or  possessive 
ca.sc ;  for  the  objective  case,  though  different  in  signi- 
fication from  the  nominative,  is  yet  the  same  in  form; 


CASES  OF  NOUNS. 


143 


and  that  difference  in  form  becomes  visible  only  wlien 
the  pronoun  is  used,  instead  of  the  noun.  As,  Alex- 
ander conquered  Darius  ;  or,  Darius  was  conquered  by 
Alexander.  Though  the  order  is  here  reversed,  and  an 
interchange  takes  place  between  the  nominative  and  the 
objective  case  of  the  two  nouns,  Alexander  and  Darius^ 
yet  there  is  no  change  of  form.  I  respected  Idm.  He 
respected  me.  Here  the  pronouns  /  and  he  change 
their  form  according  to  their  relationship  to  the  verb 
respected. 

Some  of  the  ancient  grammarians  did  not  consider 
the  nominative  as  a  case  at  all.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  start- 
ing point.  It  is  the  noun  in  its  primary  and  simple 
form,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  case,  or  fall,  from  a 
given  state.  They  represented  the  nominative  case  by 
a  perpendicular  line.  Every  variation  from  this  line 
they  considered  as  so  many  stages,  or  falls,  downwards. 
Others  considered  the  nominative  as  a  case  indicating 
the  noun  in  that  state  in  which  it  simply  falls  from  the 
mind.  This  case  they  called  the  upri<j1d  case.  All 
other  cases  were  called  ohlpjue  cases. 


Nom 


The  oblique  cases  might  be  expressed  indefinitely, 
according  to  the  genius  of  any  particular   language. 


144  CASES  OF  NOUXS. 

The  Hebrews  used  prefixes  to  denote  the  cases  of  nouns, 
and  did  not  iuflect  the  nouns  themselves.  This  is  the 
convenient  and  philosophical  principle,  which  the  Eng- 
lish language  has  adopted. 

The  same  prefixes,  without  any  variation,  in  the  Ile- 
brew,  serve  to  denote  the  cases  of  the  plural  number, 
a  change  taking  place  in  the  termination  of  the  noun, 
to  denote  plurality.  The  Greek  formed  its  cases,  not 
by  prefixes,  but  by  varying  the  termination  of  the 
noun.  These  variations,  being  formed  upon  ten  dif- 
ferent declensions,  five  of  simple,  and  five  of  contracted 
nouns,  with  their  singular,  dual,  and  plural  number, 
together  with  an  infinity  of  irregular,  capricious,  and 
anomalous  nouns,  form  a  labyrinth  of  variations  to 
which  no  memory  is  adequate.  The  Latins  formed 
their  cases  in  a  similar  manner,  though  with  less  com- 
plexity. The  modern  Italian,  derived  from  the  Latin, 
has  discarded  these  variations,  and  uses  a  prefix.  The 
mixed  Indian  dialects  form  their  cases  not  by  prejyo- 
silions,  or  variable  terminations,  but  by  postpositions  ; 
as,  Ilhoda,  a  God;  Hhoda-ka,  of  a  God;  llhoda-ko,  to 
a  God.  'J'he  French  language  denotes  its  cases  by  pre- 
positions. 

Languages  that  have  adopted  the  principle  of  ex- 
pressing cases  by  prepositions  gain  immensely  in  sim- 
plicity and  convenience.  It  is  true,  by  such  means, 
they  introduce  a  greater  number  of  small  words;  but, 
in  speaking  a  language,  this  is  of  trifiing  consequence, 
because  words  coalesce  so  much  with  each  other  in  pro- 
nunciation that  this  imperce|)tible  amalgamation  forms 
one  of  our   greatest  difliculties   in    understanding   a 


NOMINATIVE  CASE.  145 

spoken  language  with  which  we  are  but  imperfectly 
acquainted. 

The  form,  then,  of  cases,  and  the  number  of  cases, 
differ  in  different  languages.  The  object  of  cases, 
however  formed,  is  to  express  the  different  condition 
of  the  noun,  or  of  its  substitute  the  pronoun  ;  and  this 
may  be  effected  by  variable  terminations,  by  ^^reposi- 
tions,  or  by  postpositions.  All  cases  in  English  are 
expressed  by  ^^''^positions,  except  when  the  genitive 
case  is  expressed  by  's  following  the  noun  with  the 
apostrophe,  which  is  nothing  more  than  the  old  legiti- 
mate Saxon  genitive  case  abbreviated. 


CHAPTER   III. 

NOMINATIVE  CASE. 

The  nominative  case  denotes  the  noun,  as  the  subject 
of  the  verb,  and  every  proposition  must  have  a  nomi- 
native case  and  a  verb.  The  nominative  case  is  gene- 
rally expressed  by  a  single  word ;  as,  maji  is  mortal. 
Sometimes  an  infinitive  mood  performs  the  same  office, 
as,  "Toerr  is  human,  to  forgive  divine."  The  infinitive 
mood  in  this  case  becomes  virtually  a  noun,  ovofia 
l^rjuatixov,  a  vcrbal  noun.  The  principle  is  much  more 
palpable  in  Greek,  when  the  verb  is  in  the  infinitive 
mood,  and,  undergoing  no  change  itself,  associates  with 
the  nominative,  genitive,  dative,  or  accusative  case  of  the 
article.  The  infinitive  mood  of  a  Greek  verb  is  some- 
13 


11(3  NOMINATIVE  CASE. 

limes  coupled  to  a  noun,  as  if  it  were  a  noun  itself,  as 
/30VX5  *ai  naxfjOau.  {Uoiittrs  Iliad) ;  literally,  in  counsel 
and  to  figbt ;  in  counsel  and  fight.  The  principle  has 
been  recognized  in  English,  as  far  as  the  simplicity  of 
our  cases  will  permit. 

Sometimes,  an  afl'uir  or  circumstance,  with  concomi- 
tants or  qualifications,  forms  the  nominative  case  to  the 
verb  ;  as, 

''  Karly  to  l)Cil,  and  early  (0  rise, 
Makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise." 

What  is  it  that  makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise? 
The  fact  of  his  going  to  bed  early,  and  rising  early. 
The  sentence  is  a  collective  fixct,  though  there  are  two 
members,  viz.  "early  to  bed,  and  early  to  rise;"  yet  if 
we  write  7nake  instead  of  7na/ce^,  would  it  not  be  a  viola- 
tion of  grammar  ?  because  it  is  not  asserted  that  going 
to  bed  early  will  produce  this  result,  or  that  rising  early 
will  produce  it,  but  both  conjointly.  They  form  a 
grammatical  and  a  logical  unity — makes,  and  not  7«a/«;e, 
seems,  therefore,  to  be  required. 

"That  it  .should  thus  fail  is  contrary  to  the  conceptions  which 
reason  teaches  us  to  cntertuiu  of  the  wisdom,  justice,  uad  mercy 
of  tJod." 

^^  Thai  il  sliould  OiusfaiV^  is  the  nominative  case  to  the 
verb  is. 

A  noun,  then,  cannot  affirm  or  deny  anything,  whilst 
standing  alone.  It  must  be  followed  by  a  verb,  which 
verb  mu.st  agree  with  it  in  number.  It  .sometimes  hap- 
pens, however,  that  the  noun,  after  being  expressed,  is 
dropped,  antl  a   [tronoun    is  substituted  in  its  place, 


NOMINATIVE  CASE.  147 

forming  the  legitimate  nominative  case  to  the  verb. 
Thus  :— 

"  Deborah,  a  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Lapidoth — she  judged 
Israel  at  that  time." — Judges  iv.  4. 

"  The  skipping  king — he  ambled  up  and  down."    Shakspeare. 

"  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father 
will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things." — New  Test. 

Sometimes  the  objective  case  of  the  pronoun  is  sub- 
stituted, and  the  nouu  left  without  grammatical  govern- 
ment. 

"  For  the  Egyptians,  whom  ye  have  seen  to  day,  ye  shall  sec 
them  no  more,  for  ever." — Old  Test. 

At  times  no  pronoun  is  substituted,  nor  does  any  verb 
follow  the  nominative  case  of  the  noun. 

The  ancient  classics  are  full  of  examples  of  this  kind 
of  figure ;  but  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  striking 
modern  instances  of  the  kind  is  in  the  third  book  of 
Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost :" — 

"  No  sooner  had  th'  Almighty  ceased,  but  all 
The  multitude  of  angels,  with  a  shout 
Loud,  as  from  numbers  without  number,  sweet 
As  from  blest  voices  uttering  joy — ITeaven  rang 
With  jubilee,  and  loud  hosannahs  filled 
The  eternal  regions." 

The  noun  multitude  is  not  followed  by  any  verb,  to 
which  it  can  be  applied.  Bentley  proposes  to  read,  gave 
a  shout,  instead  of  iciih  a  shout.  This  alteration,  it  is 
true,  would  make  the  sentence  conformable  to  the  rules 
of  grammar:  but  Milton,  who  so  often  constructs  his 
sentences  after  the  classical  models,  no  doubt  knew  that 


143  NOMINATIVE  CASE. 

he  was  supported  by  innumerable  authorities  in  the  use 
of  this  form  of  speech.  If  read  with  a  pause  after  the 
word  joy,  tlic  eficct  of  the  sentence  is  greatly  increased, 
and  we  are  ready  to  agree  with  Monboddo,  when  he  says, 
"The  lines  are  so  wonderfully  fine,  that,  if  it  were  a 
real  solecism,  not  to  be  justified  by  any  ancient  autho- 
rity, I  could  excuse  it."  The  poet,  in  fact,  in  the 
fervor  of  his  imagination,  seems  carried  up  to  the  third 
lieaven  of  inspiration,  and  there  to  stop  and  listen  to 
the  music  of  angels,  and  to  the  mellifluous  rhythm  of 
his  own  sweet  numbers;  lie  then  collects  himself,  and 
gives  this  result  of  his  impressions: — 

'•Heaven  ran|7 
With  juhilcc,  and  loud  hosaunalis  filled 
The  Eternal  regions." 

But  whilst  the  nominative  case  is  thus  sometimes  left 
without  a  verb,  it  is,  on  some  occasions,  emphatically 
repeated  before  the  verb,  in  order  that  attention  may 
be  more  firmly  fixed  upon  it : — 

•'  ///■//,  at  last, 
Yawning  receiv'd  Ihem  whole,  and  on  them  dosed — 
Ildl,  their  fit  haliitation,  fraught  with  fire 
Unquenchable,  the  house  of  woe,  and  pain."     Mii.to.v. 

The  examples  of  this  description,  already  quoted,  are 
to  be  looked  u[)on  as  figures  of  speech,  dictated  by 
choice,  and  not  the  result  of  inadvertence.  The  fol- 
lowing seems  to  arise  from  an  oversight,  and  is  not 
defensible  on  any  grammatical  ])rincii)le,  or  figure  of 
speech. 

"Forasmuch  aa  it  hath  plenHcd  Almighty  (Jod.  of  his  goodness, 


NOMINATIVE  CASE,  149 

to  give  you  safe  deliverance,  and  hath  preserved*  you  in  the  great 
danger  of  child-hirtli." 

The  verb  hath  j^reserved  has  here  no  nominative  case, 
for  Almighty  God  occurs  in  the  objective  case  after  the 
verb  hath  pleased.  The  sentence  ought  to  be,  "  For- 
asmuch as  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  of  his  good- 
ness, to  give  you  safe  deliverance,  and  to  iireserve  you, 
or,  he  hath  preserved  you," 

We  often  meet  with  a  slovenly  mode  of  expression, 
such  as  the  following  from  Abernethy's  "  Lectures :'' — 

"  It  is  really  curious,  the  course  whicli  balls  will  sometimes  take." 

The  noun  course  here  stands  without  a  verb.  This 
awkward  expression  might  have  been  avoided  by  saying^ 
"  The  course  which  balls  will  sometimes  take  is  really 
curious,"  Again,  in  an  article  from  the  "New  Monthly," 
No,  103,  we  meet  with  the  same  form  of  expression,  but 
with  an  aggravated  aspect: — 

"  It  is  incredible,  the  number  of  apothecaries'  shops,  present- 
ing themselves." 

It  would  be  quite  as  easy  to  say,  "  The  number  of  apo- 
thecaries' shops,  presenting  themselves,  is  incredible." 

*  To  preserve — in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  of  the  P.  E. 
Church  in  the  United  States. — Am.  Pub. 


3* 


150  GEXITIVK  CASE. 

CHATTER  IV. 

THE  GENITIVE,  OR  POSSESSIVE  CASE  OF  NOUNS. 

The  Genitive  case  is  so  called  as  denoting  the  source 
out  of  which  something  springs;  as,  the  earth's  fertility, 
or  the  fertility  of  the  earth — fertility  being  traceable 
to  earth,  as  being  that  out  of  which  fertility  springs. 
Ca3sars  sword,  or  the  sword  of  Cassar;  Cicsar  being  the 
person  to  whom  the  sword  is  traceable,  in  whose  pos- 
session it  is. 

In  the  transition  state  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  the 
present  English  language,  a  grievous  corruption  of  this 
case  i)revailed,  which  seems  to  have  arisen  from  an  ig- 
norance of  its  true  origin.  The  Anglo-Saxon  had  a 
regular  possessive  case,  distinguished  from  the  other 
cases  by  a  diversity  of  termination.  This  possessive 
case,  ending  in  7/5,  or  w,  or  cs,  and  sounding  like  the 
possessive  pronoun  his,  was  corrupted  to  his,  forming  a 
separate  word.  No  such  form  existed,  in  the  Anglo- 
JSaxon,  as  the  placing  of  his  after  a  noun,  to  denote  what 
we  understand  by  the  possessive  or  genitive  case.  It  is 
a  hideous  solecism;  and,  if  possible,  to  make  matters 
worse,  even  her  is  addc<l,  in  a  similar  way,  showing  an 
utter  misconception  of  the  whole  principle.  It  is  from 
about  the  end  of  the  1-lth  century  that  we  may  date  this 
corruption,  and  it  has  now  totally  disappeared  from  all 
modern  English  works.  The  following  extracts  will 
show  that  the  legitimate  Anglo-Saxon  genitive  case 
prevailed  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  15th  century  : — 

In   Alfri'd's  will,  "And    ic  biddo  in    Ootks  naman," 


GENITIVE  CASE.  151 

and  I  bid  in  God's  name ;  "  Godes  lufan,"  God's  love ; 
and  many  similar  expressions  occur. 

In  the  parable  of  tlie  Sower,  from  the  "  Northum- 
brian Gloss,"  or  "Durham  Book,"  written  about  the 
year  900,  according  to  Mr.  Bosvvorth,  we  meet  with 
"  Heanisse  eorihes"  highness  (depth)  of  earth. 

In  a  book  called  "  Or  molum,"  because  written  by 
one  Orm,  about  1180,  being  a  metrical  paraphrase  of 
the  Gospels  and  Acts,  occur  the  following  lines.  He 
is  speaking  of  the  Marriage  Feast : — 

"And  Cristess  moder  Marye  was  att  tatt  hridalles  sajte." 
"And  Christ's  raotlaer,  Mary, was  at  tluit  bridal's  feast  (bridal- 
feast)." 

In  the  laws  of  Ina,  we  find  "CanningcsHuse,"  King's 
House,  "  Eoldermannes  Huse,"  Elderman's  House. 

"The  pope  is  to  his  chaumbre  wende, 
For  dole  he  might  ne  speke  na  more, 
And  after  cardinales  he  sonde. 
That  much  couthen  of  Cristes  lore." 

Elegy  on  the  Death  of  Edward  the  First. 

Chaucer,  born  1328,  perpetually  uses  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  genitive  case : — 

"And  when  he  in  his  chambrc  was  alone. 
He  down  upon  his  beddis  fete  him  sette." 

Troilus  and  Cresseida. 

"He  was  also  a  learned  man,  a  clerk. 
That  Christ6s  gospel  woldfe  prcchc." 

Canlerhury  Tales. 

"Than  if  I  win  a  kinges  londc."        Gower  (died  1408). 

"As  for  the  time,  though  I  oi  mirth  is  food, 
Might  have  no  more,  to  look — it  did  me  good." 

James  tiir  First  cf  Scotland  (born  139.")). 


152  GENITIVE  CASE. 

"  Now  was  there  made  fast  by  the  touris  wall 
A  gaiilen  fair."  .Iamks  tiik  First  of  Scotlaml. 

"Upsprang  the  lark,  the  hcavenis  meustral  syne." 

Dlxbar  (1465). 

"  Anil  I  ritlc  with  gold  so  red, 
And  I  have  to  do  with  hiiulrs  law." 

Dame  Berxers  (1496). 

Again : — 

"  But  I  say  if  any  such  arrays  be  borne,  thoos  armj-s  be  of  no 
more  auctorite  than  thoos  arrays  be  the  wich  be  taken  by  a 
viannj/8  awuc  auctorite." — Dame  Berners. 

In  1407,  the  following  entry  occurs  in  the  Treasurer's 
book  of  James  tbe  Fourth  of  Scotland : — 

"Item.  To  Roland  llobison,  for  his  inaslc7'is  moti'this  ]iin- 
fijoun." 

Up  to  this  period,  then,  and  somewhat  later,  we  find 
tliis  f(^rm  of  the  regular  Saxon  genitive  ease  prevailing, 
without  ever  a  trace  of  his  as  a  substitute;  and  there 
can  be  no  question  that  the  introduction  of  his  took 
place  from  its  resemblance,  in  sound,  to  the  termination 
tj»,  or  ys,  or  es,  as  cases  gradually  melted  away  from  the 
old  Anglo-Saxon. 

In  Drayton's  "Polyolbion"  (born  1503),  we  find  the 
following  sentence: — 

"They  afterwards  were  most  willingly  requested  to  multij)ly 
their  number,  by  sending  for  more  of  their  countrymen,  to  helpe 
Kintr  Vnrtii/em.  an<l  under  that  eolour,  and  by  UiMiix,  her  wo- 
mani-li  -iiliil.  ty.  in  iTiiitir  number  were  here  planted."' 

Here  we  liave  itonix,  her  womanish  subtlety,  for 
Konixi.M,  llonix'.s  womani.sli  subtlety. 


GENITIVE  CASE.  153 

Even  the  plural  their  was  used  in  the  same  manner 
as  his  and  her^  as  in  Welwood's  "Memoirs :" — 

"  About  the  lawfulness  of  the  Hollanders,  their  throwing  off 

the  monarchy  of  Spain." 

* 

The  present  form  of  the  genitive  case  is  simply  an 
abbreviation  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  genitive,  by  the  eli- 
sion of  i  or  y  before  s.  Such  expressions  as  the  follow- 
ing are,  therefore,  unmitigated  corruptions:  as, 

"  Mars  his  idiot."  Shakspeare. 

"Whereby  I  guessed  that  Ortelius  did  much  incline  unto  Be- 
canus  his  conceit." — Verstegan. 

"  If  Socrates  his  free  nature  be  not  found,  surely  Socrates  his 
slavish  nature  must  be  beaten,  and  that  even  by  Socrates  his  own 
profession." — Golden  Grove,  book  iii.  1608. 

"  My  paper  is  the  Ulysses  his  bow,  in  which  every  man  of  wit 
or  learning  may  try  his  strength." — Addison. 

"  By  young  Telemachus  his  blooming  years." 

Pope,  Odyssey. 

It  has  been  absurdly  supposed  that  the  same  single 
letter  5,  on  many  occasions,  does  the  office  of  a  whole 
word,  and  represents  the  his  or  her  of  our  forefathers. 
Were  this  the  case,  how  should  we  deal  with  such  ex- 
pressions as  the  men's  heads,  the  children's  bread  ? 
As  both  these  nouns  are  plural,  on  what  principle  can 
we  say  the  men  his  heads,  or  the  children  his  bread  ? 
It  is  in  fact  no  such  thing ;  it  is  a  return  from  a  gross 
solecism  to  the  legitimate  Anglo-Saxon  genitive  case, 
with  the  elision  of  i  or  y  or  e,  which  we  still  acknow- 


15  i  GENITIVE  CASE. 

ledge  by  the  use  of  the  apostrophe  in  genitive  cases 
ending  in  s ;  as,  nom.  man,  gen.  mamujs,  of  a  man.  In 
English,  nom.  man,  gen.  man's. 

Lowth  supposes  that  the  phrase  Jesus  Christ  Jiis  sake, 
as  we  find  in  the  "Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  which 
used  to  be  written  C/in'sds  sake,  was  an  oversight  of 
the  printers  or  compilers.  The  supposition  is  quite 
gratuitous  by  the  side  of  "MorJecai  Jiis  matters,"  "Asa 
his  heart," 

The  error  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  similarity 
of  sound  between  the  real  Anglo-Saxon  genitive  case 
of  the  noun,  and  the  same  noun  with  the  addition  of 
his,  as  Christ,  Christts  gospel,  Christ,  Christ  his  gospel. 

The  error  would  probably  never  have  been  intro- 
duced, had  not  this  similarity  existed;  but,  once  ad- 
mitted, it  extended  to  words  which  did  not  end  in  is,  or 
2/5,  in  the  genitive  case,  as  in  the  case  of  "Asa  his 
heart."  The  Anglo-Saxon  nouns  were  finally  reduced 
to  three  declensions,  of  which  the  genitive  in  ys,  or  is, 


or  es,  was  one :  as. 

Stuiiular. 

Siiifiula  r. 

Nom.  Sinitli,  a  smith. 

Nom.  AVitegu.  ii  jirophpt. 

Gen.  Smithes,  of  a  .smith. 

(Jen.  AViteiraii,  uf  a  proplict, 

S/tignlar. 

Nom.  Wilno,  a  maiden. 
(Jen.  Wiln-e,  of  a  maiden. 

One  form  only,  and  that  an  abbreviated  one,  has 
survived.  In  the  ])lural  number,  all  Saxon  genitives 
ended  in  a;  as  smitha,  of  smiths;  Witegena,  of  pro- 
phets;  Wilna,  of  maidens. 


COMPOUND  TERMS.  155 

In  the  following  sentence,  the  possessive  case  is  im- 
properly used : — 

"  And  there  went  out  with  him  all  the  laud  of  Judea,  and  they 
'of  Jerusalem,  and  were  all  baptized  of  him,  in  the  river  of  Jor- 
dan, confessing  their  sins." 

The  river  is  Jordan,  and  Jordan  is  the  river.  The 
terms  are  co-equal  and  identical,  and  reciprocal,  and 
both  ought  to  be  in  the  same  case,  in  the  river  Jordan^ 
and  not  the  river  o/"  Jordan.     So  also — 

"  The  river  of  Kishon  swept  them  away,  that  ancient  river,  the 
river  Kishon." — Judges  v.  21. 

It  is  true  we  find  examples  of  this  kind  in  Latin,  but 
then  the  expression  is  explained,  as  being  elliptical,  as 
in  Virgil,  "  flumen  Ilimcllai;  the  river  of  Ilimella;  but 
the  resemblance  to  the  expression,  the  river  of  Jordan, 
is  only  in  appearance.  The  sentence  made  out  would 
be,  flumen  cui  nomen  erat  Himellce. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

COMPOUND  TERMS  JOINED  BY  HYPHEN. 

When  two  nouns  come  together,  though  not  in  appo- 
sition, the  latter  is  not  necessarily  put  in  the  genitive 
case.  The  English  language  admits  of  compound  terms 
with  great  facility,  many  of  which  must  be  joined  by 
the  hyphen;  and  in  such  terms  the  sign  of  the  genitive 
case  must  be  omitted,  as  night-raven,  not  night's-raven, 


156  COMPOUND  TERMS 

sun-bcani,  sea-nymph,  ill-luck  signs,  yard-long  tailed, 
the  last  epithet  consisting  of  a  noun,  an  adjective,  and 
a  particii)le,  yet  we  feel  that  the  combination  is  per- 
fectly legitimate,  and  that  it  ofl'ers  no  violence  to  the 
English  idiom.  Compound  words  of  this  description 
require  to  be  connected  by  the  hyphen. 

The  following  rules,  applicable  to  the  use  of  the 
hyphen,  taken  from  a  note  appended  to  the  199th  page 
of  Dr.  Carey's  "English  Prosody,"  are  sufficient  to 
meet  the  generality  of  cases  in  which  there  may  be  a 
doubt. 

"1.  "When  each  of  two  contisruons  stihstantivcs  retains  each 
its  orifrinal  acccut,  mnil  the  hyphen,  as,  master  bfiililer.  Where 
tlie  latter  h)ses,  or  alters  its  accent,  instrl  the  hyphen,  as.  shi))- 
builder. 

"2.  When  two  suhstantives  arc  in  apposition,  and  either  of 
the  two  is  separately  aj>i>licalile  to  the  person  or  thint,'  desifj^natcil, 
omit  the  hyphen;  as,  lord  chnnctllor.  When  they  are  not  in 
apposition,  and  only  one  of  the  two  is  separately  ap])licablo  to 
the  person  or  thing,  insert  the  hyphen  ;  as,  a  horse-dealer,  who 
is  a  dealer,  but  not  a  horse. 

"3.  When  the  first  siil)stantivc  serves  the  purpose  of  an  ad- 
jective, c.xpressinf^  the  matter  or  substance  of  which  tlie  second 
consists,  and  may  be  jdaced  after  it  with  of  (not  denotinjr  posses- 
sion), omit  the  hyphen,  as,  silk  gown,  a  gown  of  silk.  When  the 
first  does  not  express  the  matter  or  substance  of  the  seeontl,  and 
may  be  placed  after  it  with  of  (tienoting  possession)  or  with/o/", 
or  bduntjinfj  to,  insert  the  hyphen,  as  srhonl-master,  plajz-linte, 
cork-tcrexv,  laundrtj-maid,  i.  c.  the  master  of  the  school,  lime  of 
play,  screw  for  corks,  maid  belonging  to  the  laundry. 

"4.  Uetween  an  adjective  and  its  substantive  (used  as  such 
in  the  sentenee)  omtl  the  hyphen,  as  high  sheriJl",  prime  minister. 
^Vhen  the  a<lje<tive  and  its  substantive  arc  used  as  a  kind  of 
compoiincl  a<ljcctivc  to  another  substantive,  insert  the  hyphen 
between  the  two  former,  as  high-<hur(h  doitrinc. 

".').  When  an  adjective,  or  an  ,i(I\irl.   utid  a  participle  imine. 


JOINED  BY  HYPHEN.  157 

diately  following,  arc  together  used,  as  a  kind  of  compound  ad- 
jective, merely  expressing  an  inherent  quality  without  reference 
to  immediate  action,  and  (in  order  of  syntax)  precede  the  sub- 
stantive to  which  they  are  joined,  insert  the  hyphen,  as,  a  quick- 
hailing  vessel.  When  they  imply  immediate  action,  and  (in 
order  of  syntax)  follow  the  substantive,  omit  the  hyphen,  as, 
'  the  ship  qiiick  sailing  o'er  the  deep.'  " 

The  accent,  in  every  one  of  these  cases,  is  a  sure 
guide:  that  is,  when  the  accent  is  thro\vn  upon  the  fir.st 
member  of  the  compound,  and  lost  on  the  second,  the 
hyphen  is  to  be  used ;  when  the  accent  is  preserved  on 
both,  the  hyphen  is  not  to  be  used. 

There  are  many  other  cases,  no  doubt,  to  which  these 
rules  will  not  strictly  apply.  As  far  as  they  go,  they 
are  sound  and  useful.  To  use  a  broad  distinction,  let 
us  take  a  milk-man,  and  a  snow  man.  Here  the  accent 
is  upon  milk^  and  the  hyphen  is  used ;  but  in  the  case 
of  a  snow  man,  or  a  man  made  of  snow,  the  accent  is 
preserved  in  both  terms,  and  we  do  not  use  the  hyphen. 
So  a  glass-house  is  a  house  for  the  manufacture  of  glass; 
n  glass  Jwiise,  a  house  made* of  glass;  a  greeji-house,  a 
house  for  the  preservation  of  green  plants;  a,  green  house, 
a  house  of  a  green  color.  The  compounding  of  terms 
may  arise  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  out  of  this  variety 
uncertainty  may  occur.  Let  us  take,  for  instance,  horse- 
power. Without  considering,  we  at  once  lay  the  ac- 
cent on  horse,  and  properly  so ;  because  the  horse  is  not 
the  constituent  material  of  the  power,  but  only  the 
instrument  from  which  that  material  results.  We  use 
the  phrase  horse-power  as  expressive  of  a  certain  inten- 
sity of  power ;  and  if  to  this  we  add  number,  w^c  then 
throw  the  accent  back  upon  the  term  ten,  and  constitute 


158  COMPOUND  TERMS  JOINED  BY  HYPHEN. 

a  triple  compound  term,  expressive  of  a  definite  quan- 
tity, and  we  see  no  impropriety  in  designating  an 
engine  as  a  Im-horse-poicer  engine.  Now,  to  show  liow 
far  this  is  the  case,  we  cannot  say  a  ten  horses'  power 
engine,  or  a  ten  anything,  except  where  a  phrase  is 
used  collectively,  as  a  ten  iccelcs'  sickness,  for  a  and  ten 
are  numerically  incompatible;  yet  we  see  no  impro- 
priety in  designating  an  engine  as  a  o7ie-horse-power 
engine,  or  a  /e-n-horse-power  engine.  Ought  we  then 
to  say,  how  mucli,  horse-power  engine,  or  how  many 
horse-power  engine  ?  I'i  we  insist  on  viani/,  we  ought, 
in  order  to  be  consistent,  to  insist  on  how  many  horses^ 
power.  Either  let  us  do  this,  or  do  that  which  is  much 
better,  namely,  make  the  whole  a  compound  term,  and 
lliat,  too,  perfectly  consistent  with  the  genius  of  the 
English  language.  As,  how  viuch  power  engine?  a 
(e7i-horse-powcr  engine.  Then  (to  work  out  the  prin- 
ciple) we  may  hope  to  see  the  master  bui'lders,  the  ship- 
builders, the  lord  chancellors,  the  schOol-masters,  the 
prime  minister,  the  hi'gh-church-men,  and  the  luw- 
churchmen,  men-singers,  and  women-singers  with 
silver-toned  voices;  together  with  the  6j)era-dancers, 
and  the  liorsc-guanls,  and  the  fuot-guards,  the  cuw- 
keepers,  the  coal-porters,  the  lighter-men,  the  cupper- 
smiths,  the  tin-men,  the  musical-instrument  manufac- 
turers, ladies  in  silk  gowns,  and  water-men  in  cork 
jackets,  and  waiters  with  cork-screws  and  wi'nc-coolers, 
even  the  anti-stay-and-corset-young-women-killing  so- 
ciety, all  ina  fjuick-sailing  vessel,  going  to  see  the  snow 
man,  made  by  the  niilk-man  of  Miiry-le-bone,  and  then 
proceeding  to  view  the  "yard-long-tailed"  monkey,  and 
the  elephant  possessing  the  strength  of  a  twenty-horse- 


OBJECTIVE  CASE.  159 

power  st(5am-engine,  now  exhibiting  in  Bfsbop-gate- 
street-without,  a  sight  never-to-be-forgotten. 

If  these  principles  are  correct,  the  following  expres- 
'sion  from  Gibbon  is  erroneous : — 

".The  buckler  was  of  an  obloug'  and  concave  figure,  four  feet 
in  length,  and  two  and  a  half  in  breadth,  framed  of  light  wood, 
covered  with  a  bull's  hide,  and  strongly  guarded  with  plates  of 
brass." 

If  each  shield  was  covered  with  one  bull's  hide,  a  bull's 
hide,  the  expression  would  be  correct;  though  we  can- 
not suppose  that  each  shield  or  buckler  would  require 
the  whole  hide,  and,  according  to  the  dimensions  given, 
it  certainly  would  not.  But  by  bull's  hide  is  probably 
meant  simply  the  material  with  which  the  buckler  was 
covered,  without  reference  to  any  particular  bull ;  and 
if  so,  the  expression  ought  to  be  huU-\i\i\.e^  and  not  hulVs 
hide.  We  say  the  chair  was  made  of  yew-tree,  the 
cabinet  was  inlaid  with  box-wood,  not  vew's  tree,  box's 
wood.  We  say,  also,  the  seat  was  stuffed  with  horse- 
hair, taking  these  terras  as  being  expressive  of  particu- 
lar materials,  without  an^^  reference  whatever  to  the 
individual  source  of  production. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OBJECTIVE  CASE. 


As  the  objective  case  in  English  is  the  same  as  the 
nominative,  it  is  impossible  to  err  in  point  of  form. 
Whether  the  noun  depends  upon  an  active  transitive 


IGO  OIUFXTIVE  CASE. 

verb,  or  upon  a  preposition,  the  objective  cnsc,  in 
English,  is  always  the  same  as  the  nominative.  Though 
not  subject  to  a  change  of  form,  it  is  virtually  in  a  dif- 
ferent case.  It  is  called  the  objective  case,  because  it 
expresses  the  object  upon  which  the  action  of  a  transi- 
tive verb  falls.  That  a  freedom  from  error  in  the  use 
of  the  objective  case  very  often  depends  upon  the  un- 
changeable nature  of  the  noun,  rather  than  upon  a 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  grammar,  is  pretty  ob- 
vious from  the  Hict  that  errors  are  very  frequently  met 
with  in  the  confusion  of  the  nominative  and  objective 
cases  of  pronouns,  though  these  have  the  very  same 
grammatical  construction  as  nouns.  The  cases  of  pro- 
nouns being  varied,  an  opening  is  left  for  error,  and 
errors  we  find  in  abundance,  and  those,  too,  in  the  most 
popular  writers  in  the  English  language.  Such  will  fall 
under  consideration  when  treating  of  the  pronoun. 

An  active  transitive  verb,  then,  requires  the  objec- 
tive case,  and  so  does  a  preposition  ;  but  the  objective 
case,  whether  of  noun  or  pronoun,  does  not  necessarily 
follow  the  verb  or  preposition  in  onlcr,  though  it  must 
do  so  essentially,  and  according  to  grammatical  govern- 
ment. The  English  language  admits  of  a  greater  inver- 
sion of  order  than  is  generally  supposed,  and  this  we 
find  carried  to  the  greatest  extent  in  the  measured  pro- 
gression of  blank  verse.     As — 

"  Now  storming  fury  rose, 
And  clamor,  such  as  heard  iu  hoavcn,  till  now, 
"Was  never;" 

i.  e.  such  as  was  never  heard  in  heaven,  till  now. 

"Orators  such  as  Cicero  and  Demosthenes  wc  have  none." — 
JUuir'H  lihdorir. 


OBJECTIVE  CASE,  161 

The  grammatical  order  would  be,  "We  have  no  such 
orators  as  Cicero  and  Demosthenes  were." 

Sometimes  a  sentence  forms  the  objective  case  after 
a  verb  grammatically,  and  yet  precedes  it  in  order,  ia 
the  same  manner  as  a  simple  noun  might  do.  Thus, 
in  "Paradise  Lost:" — 

"  That  thou  art  happy,  owe  to  God  ;" 

i.  e.  owe  to  God  the  fact  or  circumstance,  "  that  thou  art 
happy. " 

Again,  from  the  same  source: — 

"For  this  fair  earth  I  see, 
Warm'd  by  the  sun,  producing  every  kind  ; 
Them,  nothing ;" 

^.  e.  For  I  see  this  fair  earth,  warmed  by  the  sun,  pro- 
ducing every  kind,     I  see  them  producing  nothing, 

"  And  these  very  thoughts,  these  verj/  sources  of  sentiment,  this 
very  satiety,  this  very  discontent,  this  profound  and  melancholy 
sentiment,  the  result  of  certain  social  systems,  the  first  two  cantos 
of  Childe  Harold  suddenly  appeared  to  represent." — Bulwer. 

Here  we  have  four  nouns  in  the  objective  case,  all 
preceding  the  verb  on  which  they  depend,  and  that 
verb,  namely,  represent^  placed  at  the  very  end  of  the 
sentence.  In  the  following  sentence,  a  verb  in  the 
infinitive  mood  fulfils  the  office  of  a  noun  in  the  object- 
ive case.     As, 

"  Owe  no  man  anvthin"',  but  to  love  one  another." — Neio  Test. 

"  What  went  ye  out/or  to  see  ?" — Ibid. 

"  For  to  proroki'.'^ — Jbid. 

14* 


1()2  GEXDEnS  OF  NOUXS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GENDERS   OF   XOUNS. 

Wkre  any  number  of  educated  men  required  to  form 
a  new  language,  and  fix  its  grammatical  principles,  tbey 
would,  without  doubt,  distinguish  all  living  creatures 
by  masculine  or  by  feminine  nouns,  according  to  their 
sex,  and  things  without  life  by  neuter  nouns.  In  such 
a  case,  we  should  have  a  philosophical  and  an  intelligible 
principle,  founded  on  the  very  nature  of  things,  adapt- 
ing names  to  things  and  not  things  to  names.  But  Ian- 
guages,  being  formed  for  the  most  part  by  men  little 
removed  from  a  state  of  savage  nature,  obtain  certain 
intractable  forms  which  will  not  admit  of  change  even 
in  a  more  advanced  state  of  civilization.  Hence 
the  utter  absurdity  of  classing  nouns  into  masculine, 
feminine,  and  neuter,  according  to  their  terminations. 
Words  are  the  mere  arbitrary  signs  of  things,  and  it 
cannot  be  of  the  least  importance  whether  the  name  of 
a  thing  ends  in  one  letter  of  the  alphabet  or  in  another, 
in  one  combination  of  letters  or  in  another.  The 
thing  signified,  under  all  names,  remains  the  same. 
Hence,  all  languages  which  have  attempted  to  form  the 
genders  of  nouns  on  termination  arc  full  of  inconsistency 
and  absurdity,  laying  down  rules  apparently  for  tho 
express  purpose  of  annihilating  them  by  innumerable 
exceptions;  so  that,  both  in  the  classics  and  in  the 
modern  continental  languages,  we  are  fully  prepared  to 


GENDERS  IN  THE  ENGLISH  NOUN.  163 

coincide  with  the  candid  remark  of  the  author  of  a 
German  grammar — 

"  But  neither  this  rule,  nor  any  rules,  will  be  sufficient  to  dis- 
tinguish the  genders  of  nouns." — Raiohotliam. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PRINCIPLE  OF  GENDERS  IN  THE  ENGLISH  NOUN. 

Now,  the  principle  of  genders  in  the  English  lan- 
guage is  founded  simply  on  the  distinction  of  sex;  that 
is,  on  a  natural  and  unchangeable  distinction.  Where 
there  is  no  sex,  a  distinction  is  made  by  the  simple 
negation  of  sex;  that  is,  by  what  is  called  the  neuter 
gender,  neither  masculine  nor  feminine.  This  is  instantly 
comprehended  as  a  broad  and  important  principle.  In 
philosophical  subjects,  in  plain  narration,  on  all  ordi- 
nary occasions,  it  is  a  principle  from  which  the  English 
language  does  not  depart;  but  in  oratory  and  poetry, 
it  is  not  unusual  for  the  name  of  inanimate  things  to 
be  personified,  and  the  masculine  or  feminine  gender 
assigned;  but  always  with  reference  to  peculiar  pro- 
perties. This  being  done  sparingly,  and  on  peculiar 
occasions,  adds  greatly  to  the  force  or  tenderness  of 
description.  The  sun,  for  instance,  which  communicates 
light  and  heat,  in  poetry  is  frequently  made  masculine  ; 
not  merely  because  the  deity  of  the  sun  is  represented 
as  masculine  in  heathen  literature,  but  because  of  the 
sun's  inherent  power  and  energy;    whilst  the  moon, 


1(34  GEXDERS  IN  THE  EXOLISH  NOUN. 

from  her  soft  and  chastened  light,  is  denominated  femi- 
nine.    Thus  Milton: — 

"  As  when  the  snn,  now  risen, 
Looks  thronjrli  the  misty  horizontal  air, 
Shorn  of  his  beams.'' 

Thus  Pope,  "Homer:"— 

"  Antl  now  from  forth  the  chamhers  of  the  main. 
To  bheil  his  .^acred  hiihi  on  earth  again, 
Arose  the  golden  chariot  of  the  day, 
And  tipt  the  mountains  with  a  purple  ray." 

But  speaking  of  the  moon,  the  same  author  says: — 

"  As  when  the  moon,  refulgent  lamp  of  night. 
O'er  heaven's  clear  azure  sheds  hvr  sacred  light."' 

AVe  at  once  feel  the  proj^ricty  of  this  distinction. 
Speaking  of  either  sun  or  moon  philosophically,  we 
•should  say  it ;  speaking  of  them  poetically,  or  rhetoric- 
ally, we  should  say  hc\  and  she.  Yet  the  Germans, 
running  counter  to  the  authority  of  antiquity  and  to 
our  very  innate  feelings,  make  the  sun  feminine,  and 
the  moon  masculine — the  sun  a  she,  and  the  moon  a  he; 
an  act  of  violence  and  profanation  against  the  majesty 
of  the  one,  and  the  loveliness  of  the  other.  Neither 
gallantry,  philosophy,  nor  poetical  embellishment  can 
have  had  any  share  in  such  an  appointment.  It  is 
probable  that  the  genders  of  the  sun  and  moon,  with 
other  arbitrary  and  incongruous  genders,  were  fixed  in 
German,  and  in  many  other  languages,  at  a  time  when 
they  were  the  languages  of  barbarous  hordes.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  of  our  forefathers  was  guilty  of  these  in- 
congruilies  in  llie  aji])licati()n  of  genders.     From  such 


GENDERS  IN  THE  ENGLISH  NOUN.       165 

we  are  now  happily  released.  We  still,  it  is  true,  find 
traces  of  this  capricious  application  of  genders  among 
a  certain  portion  of  our  population ;  and  agricultural 
implements,  as  harrows,  and  ploughs,  and  flails,  and 
even  measles,  smallpox,  or  fever,  are  dignified  with  a 
he  or  a  she^  according  to  the  taste  of  an  individual,  or 
of  a  district.  This  gives  ns  a  clue  to  the  origin  of  the 
arbitrary  and  capricious  genders  of  languages — bar- 
barism rendered  intractable  by  the  force  of  custom. 
Some  Indian  nations  make  the  sun  and  moon  brothers. 
Euripides,  on  one  occasion,  calls  them  father  and 
daughter.  In  Greek,  the  Furies — infernal  goddesses — 
are  feminine ;  but  Lucan,  as  if  to  indicate  their  intense 
and  powerful  malignity,  has  made  them  masculine: — 

"  Terribilesque  deos  scelerum." 

We  must,  however,  bear  in  mind  that  Osoi,  a  god,  in 
Greek,  and  deus,  in  Latin,  represented  either  gender. 
Euripides,  speaking  of  Yenus,  says,  tr,v  Osov]  and  Yir- 
gil,  speaking  of  Venus,  says,  ducente  deo.  In  speaking 
of  children,  as  a  family,  without  reference  to  sex,  the 
Greek  uses  a  neuter  noun,  ta  tsxva.  The  word  children 
we  consider,  both  masculine  and  feminine,  of  the  com- 
mon gender.  When  speaking  of  an  infant,  we  say  it. 
In  Scripture  the  Deity  is  sometimes  represented  under 
the  neuter  gender : — 

"Art  tliou  not  it  that  liatli  cut  Rahab,  and  wounded  the  dragon  ? 
Art  thou  not  it  which  hath  dried  the  sea,  and  the  waters  of  the 
great  deep  ?" 

There  is  a  peculiar  fitness  in  thus  speaking  of  Deity,  as 


1G6  GKN'DERS  IN  THE  ENGLISH  NOUN. 

an  abstraction,  apart  from  all  human  tlistinctions.  So, 
again,  "Our  Father,  ivhich,^^  not  who,  "art  in  heaven,"' 
avoiding  human  personality  and  paternity. 

Milton  makes  thunder  of  the  masculine  gender: — 

'•And  the  thunder, 
"Winei'd  wilh  red  litrlltninJ.^  and  iniiH'tuous  rage, 
I'rrhaps  bath  spent  fit's  sharis." 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  represented  the  imper- 
sonation of  love  under  the  masculine  gender,  as  a  mis- 
chievous and  playful  boy.  English  poets  have  followed 
their  example.  Thus  Lodge,  in  "  Rosalind's  Madri- 
gal :"- 

"  Love  in  my  bosom,  like  a  l)oe. 

Doth  suck  /i/,s  Bwcet ; 
Now  with  his  wings  he  plays  with  inc. 

Now  with  his  feet." 

In  English,  we  have  lost  some  terminations,  in  them- 
selves distinctive  of  masculine  and  feminine,  the  want 
of  wliich  we  perceive  in  the  following  couplet  from 
Crabbc's  "  Lover's  Journey  :"' — 

'•  (!onc  to  a  friend,  she  tells  me  ;  T  commend 
Her  purpose— means  she  to  a  ft  male  friend?" 

If  the  word  friend  had  retained  its  distinctive  termina- 
tion, it  would  not  have  been  necessary  to  use  the  words 
fenial    friend.      The  old  words  were  freund,   a  male 
h'\Q\\{\,  freundinne,  a  female  friend. 

As  a  general  principle  in  the  use  of  genders,  when- 
ever in  poetry  or  oratory,  we  ])ersonify,  we  give  the 
masculine  gender  to  such  inanimate  things  as  are  re- 
markable for  strength,  courage,  majesty;  and  the  femi- 
nine  to  such  as   are    remarkable  for   gentleness   and 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  PEONOUNS.  167 

loveliness,  or  for  which  we  cherish  a  tender  afi'ection. 
Thus,  we  speak  of  country  under  the  feminine  gender: — 

"For  thankless  Greece  such  hardships  have  I  brav'd, 
Her  wives,  her  infants,  by  my  labor  sav'd." 

Pope's  Homer. 

We  feel  a  peculiar  fitness  in  representing  justice, 
charity,  mercy,  as  feminine;  and  night,  with  her  soft 
and  silent  step,  is  aptly  represented  as  feminine.  Thus, 
in  the  Book  of  Wisdom  xviii.  14  : — 

"  For  while  all  things  were  in  quiet  silence,  and  that  night 
was  in  the  midst  of  her  swift  course,  thine  almighty  word  leaped 
down  from  heaven,  out  of  thy  royal  throne,  like  a  fierce  man  of 
war,  into  a  laud  of  destruction." 

The  quiet  and  stealthy  step  of  night,  and  the  "  almighty 
word,  leaping  down  from  heaven  like  a  fierce  man  of 
war,"  may  be  ranked  amongst  the  very  sublimest  con- 
ceptions of  human  genius. 


SECTION  III. 
GRAMMATICAL  CONSTRUCTION  OF  PRONOUNS. 

CHArTEIl     I. 

THEIR  IRREGULARITIES, 

The  English  pronoun,  though  not  so  complicated  or 
irregular  in  form  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  pronoun,  yet  is 
necessarily  so  to  a  certain  extent ;  and  in  that  compara- 
tively limited  extent  is  the  source  of  many  grammatical 


168  IRREGULARITIES  OF  PROXOUNS. 

errors — so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the  proper  use  of  the 
pronoun,  in  its  various  forms,  may,  in  a  very  consider- 
able degree,  be  considered  as  the  test  of  a  grammatical 
education.  AVe  have  no  less  than  thirty  pronouns, 
classified  by  different  grammarians  according  to  their 
supposed  distinctive  properties.  It  is  not  so  much 
with  these  distinctive  properties  that  we  have  to  deal, 
as  with  the  grammatical  application  of  the  pronouns 
themselves. 

A  personal  pronoun  is  that  which  has  reference  to 
persons,  or  to  things  personified. 

We  have  five  personal  pronouns,  /,  thou^  Jie,  she,  it, 
with  their  plurals,  tee,  ye  or  you,  and  they. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  first  person  should  be  dis- 
tinguished by  any  variation  of  gender ;  hence,  whether 
male  or  female  speaks,  both  would  say,  J  give,  or  give 
it  to  mc ;  the  gender  being  marked  by  present  person- 
ality. The  same  may  be  said  of  the  j)lural  of  /,  namely, 
ice  and  i(s.  So  also  the  second  person,  whether  singular 
or  plural,  has  no  variation  of  gender,  because  the  per- 
sons are  present  when  designated.  As  no  ambiguity 
can  arise,  no  distinction  is  necessary.  In  writing  to  an 
absent  person,  there  is  still  a  mental  or  imi)lied  presence, 
liut  as  the  third  jierson  of  whom  we  speak  is  absent, 
or  may  be  so,  a  distinctive  term  is  necessary,  and  there- 
fore we  say,  he  or  she,  him  or  her,  according  to  circum- 
stances. 

The  personal  and  relative  pronouns,  admitting  the 
greatest  irregularities,  are  the  most  fruitful  sources  of 
error;  and  in  the  Latin  and  (Jreek  languages,  where 
cases   and   variations   are    much  more  numerous,  the 


PERSONAL  PRONOUN.  169 

proper  form  of  the  relative  pronoun  always  seems  a 
matter  of  difficulty  with  the  young  student.  All  prac- 
tical teachers  know  this  by  experience. 
-  In  treating  of  the  grammatical  application  of  the 
pronoun,  the  first  object  will  be  to  point  out  that  which 
is  right  by  the  exhibition  of  that  which  is  wrong,  and 
then  to  show  how  far  the  effect  of  a  sentence,  or  of  a 
paragraph,  may  be  improved  by  the  judicious  repetition 
of  the  pronoun. 


CHAPTER   II. 

PERSONAL  PRONOUN. 

To  begin  with  the  personal  pronoun.  We  shall  find 
that  high  authorities  are  no  guarantee  against  the  com- 
mission of  flagrant  error.  There  are  facts  in  grammar, 
as  well  as  facts  in  other  matters ;  and  against  these  no 
authority,  however  great,  can  contend ;  and  as  such 
errors  may  be  quoted  as  authorities  by  those  who  never 
dream  of  subjecting  them  to  grammatical  scrutiny,  it 
may  not  be  a  useless  task  to  show  that  grammar  has 
no  aristocratic  favorites — that  there  is  no  true  standard 
except  an  impartial  grammatical  standard. 

"  Gentle  reader,  let  you  and  /,  in  like  manner,  endeavor  to 
improve  the  enclosure  of  the  Carr." — Southcy,  The  Doctor. 

Let  you  and  me  (not  /),  both  pronouns,  you  and  me, 
depending  upon  the  verb  let.     Mr.  Southey  would  not 
15 


170  rEUSONAI.  I'KONOLN. 

have  said,  let  /alone;  yet  this  would  be  quite  as  cor- 
rect as  the  A  in  the  sentence  here  quoted. 

"And  though,  hy  Heaven's  severe  decree, 
She  suffers  hourly  more  tbim  luv."    .SwrPT  toSfcUa. 

Than  /,  that  is,  than  J  do;  for  i/i<in,  in  this  position,  is 
simply  a  conjunction.  When  Ibllowed  by  ichom,  and 
in  no  other  case,  is  it  a  preposition  ;  as,  "Thau  whom 
(not  than  ivho)  no  better  man  exists." 

"At  an  hour 
^Vhcu  all  slept  sound,  save  she,  who  bore  them  both." 

Rogers'  Italy,  p.  108. 

Save  /ler,  that  is,  except  her ;  and  llogers,  in  another 
passage,  is  inconsistent  with  himself;  as, 

•'  I  looked  up. 
And  all  were  gone,  save  him,  who  now  kept  guard." 

Ibid.  p.  185. 

•  Here  is  a  pleasant  place, 
And  nothing  wanting  is,  save  she,  alas  !" 

DuuMMo.vD  of  liawthorden. 

••  There  was  no  stranger  with  us,  in  the  house,  save  ivc  two."— 
I   Kinija  iii.  18. 

"  All,  save  I,  were  at  rest,  and  enjoyment."— /"^ajjArHs^an. 

In  all  these  pa3.sages,  save  requires  after  it  the  objective 
case. 

"  Niir  hope  (i»  bo  niynelf  less  miserable 
Hy  what  I  seek,  but  others  to  make  such 
Ah  I.  Paradisu  Lost,  i.\.  12(J. 

Jjowlh  quotes  this  pa.ssagc,  with  Bciitley's  observation 
upon   it,  who  says,  *' the  .syntax  requires  such  as  inc.' 


PEESONAL  PRONOUN.  171 

Bentley  was  an  acute  classical  critic ;  but  his  English 
is  often  perfectly  childish,  and  betrays  an  utter  igno- 
rance of  the  commonest  grammatical  principles.  Let 
us  supply  what  is  wanting,  and  the  sentence  will  be 
quite  clear : — 

"  but  others  to  make  such 

As  I  am.'' 

Not  as  me  am. 

"  But  if  there  is  one  character  more  base,  more  infamous,  and 
more  shocking  than  another,  it  is  h?m  who,"  ^'C. — Bev.  Sydney 
Smith,  "  Trimmer  and  Lancaster." 

It  is  Ae,  not  him. 

Again : — 

"  AVhen  do  we  ever  find  a  well-educated  Englishman  or  French- 
man embarrassed  by  an  ignorance  of  the  grammar  of  their  re- 
spective languages.  They  first  learn  it  practically,  and  unerr- 
ingly ;  and  then,  if  they  chose  (choose)  to  look  back,  and  smile 
at  the  idea  of  having  proceeded  by  a  number  of  rules,  without 
knowing  one  of  them  by  heart,  or  being  conscious  that  they  had 
any  rule  at  all,  this  is  a  philosophical  amusement ;  but  who  ever 
tJiitiJcs  of  learning  the  grammar  of  their  own  tongue,  before  they 
are  very  good  grammarians  ?" 

"Whoever  ihinJcs  of  learning  the  grammar  of  his  own 
tongue,  before  he  is  a  very  good  grammarian  ?"  The 
author  surely  meant  to  be  facetious  when  he  repre- 
sented an  English  gentleman  as  learning  his  own  lan- 
guage, practically  and  unerrinrjhj^  without  the  know- 
ledge of  rules.  There  is  much  confusion,  also,  in  the 
application  of  their  and  they  to  an  Englishman  or  a 
I'Venchman. 


172  PERSONAL  rKONOUN". 

"  The  philosopher,  who  has  spent  a  lifetime  in  laborious,  hut 
fruitless  in<iuiry,  does  not  enjoy  the  same  reputation  as  /(/'//(  who, 
with  less  labor,  ami  possilily  less  talent,  has  added  something  to 
the  catalogue  of  discovery." — Solitary  Walks. 

As  he;  as  he  enjoys,  not  Jiim  enjoys. 

"  It  is  not  fit  for  such  as  us,  to  sit  with  the  rulers  of  the  land." 
— Scott,  Ivanhoe. 

Such  as  ice ;  as  loe  are. 

Again  : — 

"  Let  he  that  looks  after  them,  look  on  his  hand ; 
And  if  there's  blood  on't,  he's  one  of  their  band." 

Scott,  Piralv. 
Let  Jiim^  not  let  he. 

Again : — 

"  I  will  be  her,  whose  foot  the  waves  wet  not." 

I  will  be  she. 

Perhaps,  in  these  passages,  Scott  may  be  supjtosed 
to  speak  the  language  of  the  characters  introduced. 

"  Now  Margaret's  curse  is  fallen  upon  our  heads, 
When  she  exclaimed  on  Hastings,  you,  aucl  /." 

SHAKSrEAKE. 

On  mc,  not  /. 

"Ask  the  munh'rcr, /i'^  wiio  has  steeped  his  hands  in  the  blood 
(if  another — ask  liim  who  has  (orminatcd  a  life  of  iuicniity  liy  a 
«lcath  (if  infamy,"  i^e. — Dr.  Rmlji',  Stcoud  Lecture. 

Ask  the  immbrcr — him^  not  he^  him  being  put  in  ap- 
position with  munlrcr,  which  word  is  in  tiie  objective 
case;  "Ask  the  murderer — ask  him,  who,"  &c. 


PERSONAL  PRONOUN.  173 

"  He  that  studies  to  represent  one  of  known  and  eminent  merit, 
to  be  a  mere  fool,  and  an  ideot  (ideot),  he  gives  himself  the  lie, 
and  betrays  he  is  (that  he  is)  either  acted  by  envy,  or  corrupted 
by  a  faction." — Bentley. 

The  pronoun  he  in    the  second  place  is  superfluous, 
and  the  whole  sentence  insufferably  faulty.     Three  of 
.the  phrases  are  not  English,  and  ideot  ought  to  be 
idiotf^ 

"  Sorrow  not  as  tliem  that  have  no  hope." — 1  Thess.  iv.  18. 

This  sentence,  made  out,  would  be,  sorrow  not  as  them 
sorrow  that  have  no  hope. — As  they  sorrow,  not  as  them 
sorrow. 

"  If  he  suffers,  he  suffers  as  tlicm  that  have  no  hope."— Ifa- 
Ucrin's  Sermoiis. 

As  they  who,  as  they  suffer,  who,  &c.  The  whole  sen- 
tence ought  to  be,  "  If  he  siifer,  he  suffers  as  they  that 
have  no  hope;"  for  the  author  is  not  speaking  of  time 
present,  but  of  time  future  and  indefinite.  If,  at  any 
time,  he  should  suffer. 

"Holland  and  thee  did  each  in  other  live."— Dryden. 

"  We  are  alone,  here's  none  but  thee  and  I."      Idem. 

Each  of  these  sentences  exhibits  a  most  incongruous 
and  ungrammatical  amalgamation  of  terms.  They  are 
absolutely  ridiculous,  as  matters  of  grammar. 

*  Idiot  is  derived  from  iStiorjj?,  a  prictdc  person,  in  oppo.<;ition 
to  a  professio)ud  one,  the  private  or  unprofessional  person  beiug 
supposed  to  be  comparatively  unskilful,  ignorant,  stupid,  idiotic, 

t5:wrtxoj. 

15* 


1 


17-i  PERSONAL  PRONOUN. 

Mr.  Gilpin,  in  his  "Remarks  on  Forest  Scenery," 

Bays, 

"I   have,  oftcncr  than  oucc,  met  with  the  following  tender 
elegiacs  in  churchyards,  in  Hampshire  : — 

"  Him  shall  never  come  again  to  tve  ; 
liut  we  shall  surely  one  day  go  to  he." 

Wc  may  smile  at  this  rustic  simplicity,  but  there  is 
certainly  no  reason  why  the  Hampshire  peasant  should 
be  entitled  to  our  especial  condescension,  lie  goes, 
arm  in  arm,  with  the  "  unerrhg  English  gentleman," 
and  may  claim  a  personal  companionship  even  with 
authors  of  the  highest  celebrity  in  the  walks  of  English 
literature.  Let  he,  then,  hold  up  his  head  like  a  man, 
as  him  is. 

"  Her  price  is  paid,  and  she  is  sold  like  thou." 

Mii.man's  Fall  of  Jerusalem. 

Like  thou  is  not  English;  like  thee,  i.  e.  to  thee,  or,  as 
thou,  as  thou  art. 

"  lie  walks  like  I  do,"  and  such  expressions  are  mere 
vulgarisms. 

"  Phalaris,  who  was  ranch  older  than  her." — linUlet/'s  Dins. 
"  There  were  thousands  in  the  French  army  who  could  have 
done  as  well  as  him." — Xapier's  llislory  of  (he  Fm\eh    War. 

As  well  as  he  could,  not  as  him  could. 

"  lie  having  none  hut  Ihnn.  they  having  none  but  hee." 

Dkavton's  Polyolhion. 

It  is  difTicult  to  conceive  how  the  author,  who  had  just 
said  hut  them,  should  immediately  after  say  but  hcc, 
both  terms  being  siibjoct  to  precisely  the  same  gram- 
matical government. 


PERSONAL  PRONOUN.  175 

"  They  were  more  terrified  than  us." 

Which,  made  out,  runs,  "  they  were  more  terrified  than 
us  were  terrified," 

"  It  was  thee  who  peopled  the  confines  of  Asia,  Sicily  entire, 
and  part  of  Italy." — Monthly  Mag. 

It  was  thou. 

"  I  thought  this  a  good  occasion  to  ascertain  how  far  my  au- 
thority was  nominal  or  real,  and  therefore  insisted  peremptorily 
upon  their  putting  off  again.  '  Unless,'  as  I  said,  '  Messieurs, 
you  are  the  masters,  and  not  me.' " — Basil  Hall. 

"  Unless  you  are  the  masters,  and  /  am  not ;"  not  me 
am  not. 

"  At  the  town  we  discovered  that  we  had  drawn  up  against 
peaceable  travellers,  who  must  have  been  as  glad  as  us  to  escape." 
— Barnes's  Travels. 

As  we. 

"  Stimulated,  in  turn,  by  their  approbation  and  that  of  better 
judges  than  the7n,  she  turned  to  their  literature  with  redoubled 
energy." — Quarterly  Kevieiu,  Life  of  H.  More. 

Better  judges  than  they  were,  not  than  them  were. 

"And  is  this,  thought  we,  in  very  deed  the  wife  of  poor  Simon, 
the  village  lawyer,  whose  Burns  was  him  of  the  justice  and  law 
ecclesiastical  ?" — Blackwood's  Magazine,  Article  "  Very  Odd." 

Was  he. 

"There  are  the  families  of  Muness  Queendale,  Thereliove,  and 
I  know  not  whom  else  arc  expected," — Scott,  Pirate. 

"The  families  of  Muness  Queendale,  Thereliove,  and 
I  know  not  ivho  else  arc  expected."  Who  being  the 
nominative  before  are  expected. 


170  PERSONAL  I'RONOUN. 

•Tliese  are  the  men  who  are  expected." 
Not  whom  are  expected. 

"No  one  messmate  of  the  round  tabic  was,  tbau  7tm,  more 
fraught  with  inanlinoss  and  beauty." 

Than  lie. 

"  If  thy  hand  or  thy  foot  ofTend  thee,  cut  (hem  nil"  and  cast  (hem 
from  thee." — M(i/(.  xviii.  H. 

Cut  it  ofT,  and  cast  it  from  thee,  such  being  the  gram- 
matical efl'ect  of  the  conjunction  or.  Suppose  the  hand 
to  offend,  and  the  foot  7ioi  to  oflend,  surely  the  unof- 
fending foot  is  not  to  be  cut  ofl".  And  again,  suppose 
the  foot  to  oftend,  and  the  hand  not  to  oflend,  surely 
tiie  unofleuding  hand  is  not  to  be  cut  ofl".  Or  is  here 
necessarily  disjunctive,  and  the  nouns  hand  [iud  foot 
must  be  taken  separately,  aiid  each  of  them  expressed 
by  i(. 

Amhiguitij  in  the  Use  of  the  Personal  Pronoun. 

"And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  Jesus  came  from 
Nazareth  of  Ualilec,  and  was  baptized  of  Jolin  in  .Jordan:  and 
straijrhtway  cominjjup  out  of  tlic  water  /tesaw  the  heavens  opened, 
and  the  Spirit,  like  a  dove,  descending  upon  liim." 

"  lie  saw."  Who  saw  ?  Jesus,  or  John  ?  Tiie  con- 
text requires  that  Jesus  saw  ;  that  is,  Jesus  came,  was 
baptized,  and,  coming  up  out  of  the  water,  saw  the 
heavens  opened,  and  the  Spirit  descending  upon  Juin, 
that  is,  upon  John;  whereas  the  meaning  intended  is, 
that  John  saw  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  spirit  de- 
scending irt'ovro^  on  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus.  ^Fhe  Greek 
text    \<   nlso  ambiguous,  fir   tlw    ycvh  i/S«    will   ajijily 


PERSONAL  PRONOUN.  177 

either  to  Jesus  or  to  John  ;  and,  as  Jesus  occurs  in  the 
nominative  case,  in  the  preceding  member  of  the  sen- 
tence, we  should  certainly  understand  ilSs  to  be  predi- 
cated of  Jesus,  and  not  of  John.  This  ambiguity  of  the 
Greek  is  noted  by  Erasmus. 

It  may  here  be  incidentally  noticed,  that  there  is  ano- 
ther ambiguity  in  this  passage,  arising  from  the  phrase 
like  a  dove.  Like  a  dove  conveys  the  notion  of  de- 
scending in  the  similitude  of  a  dove;  but  the  simi- 
litude was  only  a  similitude  in  the  descent,  not  a 
similitude  of  bodily  form.  If  the  phrase  had  been, 
"  and  the  Spirit  descending  like  a  dove  upon  him,"  there 
would  have  been  less  chance  of  ambiguity  than  there 
is  under  the  present  arrangement  of  the  phrase.  "  The 
Spirit  descending  like  a  dove;"  as  a  dove  would  descend, 

iiOtt  rtcpistcpav. 

"  In  his  days  Pharaoh-Nechoh,  King  of  Egypt,  went  up  against 
the  King  of  Assyria,  to  the  river  Euphrates,  and  King  Josiah 
went  against  him,  and  he  slew  7u'?n  at  Megiddo,  when  he  had 
seen  him." — 2  Kings  xxiii.  29. 

From  the  confusion  arising  from  the  pronoun  him  in 
this  sentence,  it  is  not  easy  to  understand  whether 
Pharaoh-Nechoh  slew  Josiah,  or  Josiah  slew  Pharaoh- 
Nechoh,  till  we  find,  by  what  follows,  that  Josiah  is 
dead  and  Pharaoh-Nechoh  alive,  and  that  this  very 
Pharaoh-Nechoh  makes  Eliakim,  the  son  of  Josiah,  king, 
in  the  place  of  Josiah  his  father. 

"  The  Son  of  ^lan  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  chief  priests  and 
to  the  scribes,  and  they  shall  condemn  him  to  death  and  deliver 
him  to  the  Gentiles,  and  thci/  shall  mock  him,  and  scourge  him, 
and  shall  spit  upon  him,  and  shall  kill  him." 


173  PERSONAL  PKONOUX. 

77;' y.  who?  The  Gentiles?  or  the  chief  priests  and 
the  scribes?  The  introduction  of  tcJio  after  Gentiles, 
instead  of  Oiet/,  would  have  rendered  the  sentence  free 
from  ambiguity ;  "shall  deliver  him  to  the  Gentiles, 
?/7<o  shall  mock  him." 

As  pronouns  supply  the  place  of  nouns,  it  is,  indeed, 
essentially  necessary  that  they  should  distinctly  point 
to  the  nouns  which  they  represent ;  otherwise,  confusion 
and  ambiguity  must  necessarily  be  occasioned.  Take 
the  following  sentence,  from  Goldsmith's  "llistory  of 
Greece:" — 

"  He  wrote  to  that  clistin.Lruishcd  pliilosopher,  in  terms  the  most 
pijlite  anil  llnttering;  liejrging  of  hini  to  come  and  undertake  his 
education,  ami  to  bestow  on  him  those  useful  lessons  (if  magnani- 
mity and  virtue  wliieh  every  great  man  ought  to  possess,  and 
which  his  numerous  avocations  rendered  impossible  to  /i/»i." 

The  pronoun  he  is  introduced  six  times  in  this  sen- 
tence, under  different  forms ;  and  were  it  not  that  we 
are  acrjuainted  with  the  facts,  the  whole  would  be  a 
mass  of  confusion.  First  it  stands  for  Philip,  then  for 
Aristotle,  then  for  Alexander,  again  for  Alexander,  and 
then  twice  for  Philij).  The  sentence  would  have  been 
rendered  much  clearer  if  the  author  had  said,  "  utider- 
takc  his  son's  education."  And  again,  "his  ou:ii  nu- 
merous avocations." 

In  the  following  sentence,  confusion  arises  from  the 
indistinct  use  of  the  personal  pronoun  (hei/: — 

"And  tliev  did  all  eat  and  were  (illed.  and  fh<>/  took  up  llie 
fragments  tliut  remained,  twelve  iiaskets  full." — Mull.  .\iv.  I'U. 

Who  took  up?     As  the  diseiples  placed   the   loaves 


NUMBER  AND  GENDER.  179 

and  the  fishes  before  the  multitude,  and  the  multitude 
partook  of  them,  it  is  not  clear  whether  the  disciples  or 
the  multitude  took  up  the  fragments. 

'"When  Diogenes  was  asked  of  what  country  he  was,  'I  am 
(said  he)  a  citizen  of  the  world.'  The  sentiment  of  this  answer 
has  been  generally  admired,  although  probably  no  person  ever 
gave  a  more  unaraiable  illustration  of  it,  in  his  own  life,  than 
the  Cynic  in  the  tub  himself.'''' — Percy  Anecdotes,  Address. 

In  this  sentence,  from  the  juxtaposition  of  the  words 
tub  and  himself^  the  mind  connects  them  together;  so 
that  tub  himself  seems  intended,  and  not  cynic  liiraseJf. 
Cynic  himself  m  the  tub,  or  the  tub-cynic  himself. 


CHAPTER  III. 

INCONSISTENCY  OF  NUMBER  AND  GENDER. 

"  During  the  discourse,  upon  every  puncture  he  felt  from  his 
distemper,  he  smiled  and  cried  out.  Pain !  pain !  be  as  imperti- 
nent and  troublesome  as  yoa  please,  I  shall  never  own  that  thou 
art  an  evil." — Spectator,  No.  312. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  Simue  cannot  easily  stand  or  walk 
upright ;  because  its  foot  rests  on  the  outer  edge,  the  heel  does 
not  touch  the  ground,  and  the  narrowness  of  the  pelvis  renders 
the  trunk  unsteady." — Laiorence's  Lectures. 

The  Simice,  being  plural,  required  their,  not  its. 

"  AV'e  do  not  consider  that  the  ivicked  are  suffered  to  flourish 
till  the  sura  of /u'.s  iniquities  is  full." — Cole's  Sermons. 

His  ?  their. 

•'Think  me  not  lost,  for  thee  I  lleavcn  implore, 
Thy  guardian  angol,  though  a  wife  no  more; 


ISO  NUMBER  AND  GENDER. 

I,  when  abslractod  from  the  worlJ  ijou  seem, 
lliut  the  pure  thought,  and  frame  the  heavenly  dream." 

Savage,  Wanderer. 

"  Nor  can  the  prison  'scape  your  searching  eye, 
Yuur  car  still  opening  to  the  captive's  cry  ; 
Nor  less  was  promised  from  thy  early  skill, 
Ere  power  enforced  benevolence  of  will." 

Savage,  Epist.  to  Walpolc. 

"  Yet  you,  my  creator,  detest  and  spurn  mc,  thy  creature,  to 
whom  thou  art  bound  by  ties  only  dissoluble  by  the  annihilation 
of  one  of  us." — Fraukcnstciii. 

"His  design  was  to  render  Athens  a  maritime  city,  in  which 
he  followed  a  very  different  system  of  politics  from  their  former 
governors." — Gohlsjnith's  Greece. 

From  that  of  tlicir  former  governors,  otherwise,  sys- 
tem is  contrasted  with  governors,  instead  of  the  system 
of  one  governor  with  the  sy.stem  of  other  governors. 

In  the  following  passage,  there  is  an  incongruity 
between  the  number  of  the  noun  and  that  of  the  pro- 
noun which  refers  to  it. 

"  Eijypt  was  glad  at  their  departure,  for  they  were  afraid  of 
them."— 0/t/.  Test. 

Egypt,  for  the  Egyptians,  is  a  figure  of  si)ccch  quite 
justifiable. 

The  following  passage  presents  a  confusion  of  gen- 
ders:— 

"  He  that  prickcth  the  car  maketh  it  to  show  her  knowledge." — 
EccUs.  xxi.  19. 

We  see  no  reason  for  il  in  one  place,  and  her  in  the 
other. 

The    [)ronoun  he,  when   standing  for   a    noun  sub- 


USE  OF  THE  PERSONAL  PRONOUN.       181 

stantive,  or  for  a  noun  adjective,  is  indeclinable;  it  has 
no  variation  of  case.     As, 

"  Malevolti  had  noticed  these  splenetic  efforts;  but,  though  a 
man  of  fiery  character,  and  proud  enough  to  dare  the  proudest 
he  who  ruffled  his  self-complacency  by  a  look,"  &c. 

The  proudest,  Ae,  that  is,  the  proudest  man.  He  is 
in  this  sense  an  indeclinable  name,  and  in  the  objective 
case. 

When  standing  in  the  place  of  an  adjective,  it  again 
has  no  variation  of  case.     As, 

"  I  will  take  no  bullock  out  of  thy  house,  nor  7ie-goat  out  of 
thy  folds." — Psalms. 

In  this  position  he  is  an  integral  part  of  the  terra 
goat^  and  remains  unchanged,  though  in  the  objective 
case.  It  would  be  rather  odd  to  say,  I  will  take  no 
Am-goat. 


C  HATTER   IV. 

PROPER  USE  OF  THE  PERSONAL  PRONOUN. 

The  following  sentences  present  us  with  i\\Q  proper 
use  of  the  pronoun,  contrasted  with  some  of  those  errors 
which  have  already  been  given. 

"  Successful  he  might  have  been,  had  his  horse  been  as  ambi- 
tious as  he." — Goldsmith,  Citizen  of  the  World. 

That  is,  as  he  was. 
IG 


182  USK  OF  THE  PERSONAL  rRONOUX. 

"  Surely  there's  not  a  dungeon-slave  that's  buried 
In  the  high-way  unshrouded  and  uncofllued, 
15 ut  lies  as  soft  and  sleei)S  as  sound  as  /(<■." 

Bi.Ain's  GniLc. 

That  is,  as  he  does. 

"And  let  the  king  give  her  royal  r.-lulf  lu  another  that  is 
bettor  than  filar— K.tho-  i.  ir>. 

That  is,  than  site  is. 

"For  thou  hast  discovered  thyself  to  another  than  mc." — 
Isaiah  Ivii.  8. 

That  is,  tlian  to  ine. 

The  errors  that  have  been  pointed  out,  in  the  use  of 
the  personal  pronoun,  are  but  a  few  specimens  out  of 
hundreds,  I  might  say  thousands,  wliich  are  scatterec 
over  our  literature.     It  is  the  very  fact  of  their  per 
pctual  recurrence  that  makes  tlieni  a  matter  of  conse 
quence,  and  entitles  them  to  notice;  though  individu 
ally,  many  of  tliem    are   absolutely  below  criticism 
They  arc  of  a  character  to  which,  perhaps,  the  Ian 
guage  of  no  civili/ced  peoi)le  can  aft'ord  a  parallel.     It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  men  of  high  literary  reputation 
should,  over  and  over  again,  be  guilty  of  errors  which 
must  be  glaring  and  obvious  to  every  foreigner  who 
applies  himself  to  the  study  of  the  very  first  principles 
of  the  English  language. 


USE  OF  YE,  YOU,  AND  THOU.  183 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  THE  USE  OF  YE,  YOU,  AND  THOU. 

Custom  has  authorized  that  ye  shall  be  used  in  the 
two  extremes  of  solemnihj  and  familiarity ;  whilst  yoii 
is  more  properly  confined  to  ordinary  narrative  and 
familiar  occasions. 

Solemnity. 

"  Thrm  hard  firm  earth,  thon  wilt  not  hrcak  licfore  me. 
And  hide  mc  in  Ihv  dark  and  secret  bosom  ! 
Ye  burning  towers,  ye  fall  upon  your  children 
"With  a  compassionate  ruin,  not  on  me. 
Ye  spare  me  only.     I  alone  am  mark'd 
And  seal'd  for  life  ;  death  cruelly  seem.s  to  shnu  me. 
Me,  who  am  readiest,  and  most  wish  to  die." 

MiLMAN,  Fall  of  Jerusalem. 

"  I  speak  to  time  and  to  eternity, 
Of  which  I  grow  a  portion — not  to  man. 
Ye  elements  !  in  which  to  be  resolved 
I  hasten,  let  my  voice  be  as  a  spirit 
Upon  you  !     Ye  blue  waves,  which  bore  my  banner ; 
Ye  winds,  that  fluttered  o'er,  as  if  ye  loved  it, 
And  filled  my  swelling  sails,  as  they  were  wafted 
To  many  a  triumph  !     Thou,  my  native  earth, 
Which  I  have  blod  for,  and  (lion,  foreiirn  earth. 
Which  drank  [draiik'stl  this  willing  blood  from  many  a  wound  ! 
Ye  stones,  in  which  my  gore  will  not  sink,  but 
Eeek  up  to  heaven  !     Ye  skies,  which  will  receive  it ! 
Thou  sun.  which  shin'st  on  these  things  !     And  Thou 
Who  kindlest  and  who  quenchest  suns  !  attest."' 

Byron,  Doge  of  Venice. 


184  ON'  THE  USE  OF 

Tliou  is  used  instead  of  yow,  in  cases  of  marked  per- 
sonal appeal,  or  emphatic  distinction. 

"  Hail,  horrors  !  hail, 
Infernal  world  !     And  Thou  1  profoundcst  hell, 
Receive  thy  new  possessor." 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  i. 

"  Than  sun,  said  I,  fair  lijrht ! 
And  Ihon,  cnli^ifhtcned  earth,  so  fresh  and  jray ! 
Ye  hills  and  dales  !  ye  rivers,  woods,  and  plains  ! 
And  ye  that  live  and  move,  fair  creatures,  tell — 
Tell  if  j/e  saw  how  I  came  thus,  how  here  !"  //-/(/. 

There  is  an  earnestness  of  appeal,  and  a  sublimity, 
which  rank  these  with  the  finest  passages  of  P^nglish 
poetry.  Let  them  be  examined,  and  it  will  be  seen  how 
much  of  this  ellect  is  owing  to  the  pointed  and  distinct 
personality  expressed  by  ye  and  tliou, 

"Clad  in  Achilles'  arms  if  thou  appear, 
I'roud  Troy  may  tremble  and  desist  from  war." 

I'nrE,  Iliad. 

"Thy  once  proud  hopes,  presumptuous  prince,  arc  fled  ; 
This  arm  shall  reach  fhy  heart,  and  strike  (hee  dead."    Jl>id. 

"  Ah,  wretch  !  no  father  shall  (liy  corpse  compose, 
Thy  dying  eyes  no  tender  mother  close."  Ibid. 

Change  ye  and  thou  into  you,  and  thine  into  yours,  and 
the  earnestness,  vigor,  and  solemnity  of  these  passages 
will  be  destroyed.  They  will  exhibit  nothing  but  a 
mawkish  and  in.sipid  conventionalism. 

The  following  couplet  from  Pope  we  cannot  but  dis- 
like on  these  grounds: — 

"  We  then  explained  the  cause  on  which  wc  came. 
Urged  i/OH  to  arms,  and  found  ynii  fierce  for  fame."       ////(/. 


YE,  TOO,  AND  THOU.  185 

The  passage  is  offensive,  because  it  is  inconsistent 
with  the  language  of  the  heroic  age ;  and  as  the  relation 
of  a  solemn  appeal,  is  ridiculous.  But  when  we  pass 
from  mere  mortal  subjects  to  the  Deity,  and  the  Ke- 
deemer,  the  term  you  in  the  place  of  tliou  becomes 
highly  offensive. 

What  a  grievous  profanation  would  it  be  to  substi- 
tute the  second  person  plural  for  i\\Q  first,  and  your  for 
thine,  in  the  Lord's  Prayer!  "Our  Father,  which  art  in 
heaven,  hallowed  be  your  name,  your  kingdom  come," 
&;c.  All  right  feeling  revolts  against  the  impious  fami- 
liarity. 

The  profanation  is  not  much  less,  when  the  second 
person  plural  of  the  pronoun  is  applied  to  the  Redeemer. 
As, 

"  Jesus  Christ !  what  great  crime  have  I  clone  ?  Who  (whom) 
of  those  who  believed  ia  you  have  I  ever  treated  so  cruelly !" — 
£y Israeli,  Curiosities  of  Literature. 

In  expressing  contemptuous  indignation,  and  wither- 
ing scorn,  the  pronoun  iJiou  is  used  with  great  effect. 
As, 

"  Thou  elfish-mark'd  abortive  rooting  hog  ! 
Thou  that  wast  scaled  in  thy  nativity 
The  slave  of  nature,  and  the  son  of  hell ! 
Thou  slander  of  thy  mother's  heavy  womb  ! 
Thou  rag  of  honor  !  thou  detested  !" 

SlIAKSPEARE. 

Substitute  you  for  thou,  and  the  passage  becomes  com- 
]iarativcly  courteous. 

16* 


ISO  USE  OF  YE,  YOU,  AND  TUOU. 

Ye,  uscel  in  cases  of  extreme  fainiruirity. 

"Love  in  my  bo?oni,  like  a  l»ec, 
Doth  suck  liis  sweet ; 
Now  with  his  wings  he  plays  with  me, 

Now  with  his  feet. 
"Within  mine  eyes  he  makes  his  nest, 
His  bed  amidst  my  tender  breast; 
My  kisses  arc  his  daily  feast. 
Ah  I  wanton,  will  2/(  /" 

Lodge's  liosaliniVs  Madriijal. 

Drnyton,  in  liis  Nympliulia,  uses  ye  in  the  same  fami- 
liar manner: — 

"Come  all  into  this  nut.  (juolh  she; 
Come  closely  in — be  ruled  by  me; 
Each  one  may  here  a  chooser  be, 
For  room  ye  need  not  wrestle ; 
Nor  need  yc  Ite  together  hea])'d  : 
So  one  l)y  one  therein  they  crept, 
And  lying  down  they  soundly  slept, 
And  safe  as  in  a  castle." 

"Show  your  small  talents,  and  let  that  suflicc  »/e, 
liut  grow  not  vain  upon  it,  I  advise  ye."  PmliKjue. 

"  (treat  critics  in  a  '  novcrint  universi,' 
Know  all  men,  l)y  these  presents,  how  to  curse  ye." 

IJi'Ti.En. 

Wc  sometimes  lincl  ye  in  tlio  place  of  you,  even  in 
the  objective  ease,  and  where  the  subject  is  of  a  solemn 
nature.  Against  this,  ]iO\vth  strongly  protests.  "In 
the  serious  and  solemn  style,"  says  he,  "  no  authority 
is  snfTicierit  to  justify  .so  manifest  a  solecism." 

KXAMI'I.KS. 

"God,  (luTcfore.  rannnt  liurt  y,  an<l  l»e  just." 

I'lniiiliso  Lost,  b.  ix. 


PRONOUNS  ENCLITIC  AND  EMPHATIC.  187 

"  0  Flowers, 
That  never  will  in  other  climates  grow, 
My  early  visitation  and  my  last, 
At  e'en,  which  I  bred  up  with  tender  hand, 
From  the  first  opening  bud,  and  gave  ye  names, 
AVho  now  shall  rear  ye,  I"'  Paradise  Lost,  b.  xi. 

"  Yet  for  my  sons  I  thank  ye,  gods  !     'Twas  well, 
AVell  have  they  perish'd,  for  in  fight  they  fell." 

Pope,  Iliad,  b.  xxii. 

"Be  sad,  as  we  would  make  ye." 

SuAKSPEARE,  Henry  VIII. 

"  Sparta  I  Sparta !  why  in  slumbers 
Lethargic  dost  thou  lie  ? 
Awake  and  join  thy  numbers 

To  Athens,  old  ally; 
Leouidas  recalling, 

That  chief  of  ancient  song. 
Who  sav'd  ye  once  from  falling. 
The  terrible — the  strong." 

Byron,  Translation  of  War-Song. 

To  say  the  least,  no  advantage  seems  to  be  gained  by 
the  use  of  ye  in  the  place  o(  you,  in  the  five  last-men- 
tioned passages;  nor  can  extensive  custom  be  pleaded 
as  an  authority. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

PRONOUNS  ENCLITIC  AND  EMPHATIC. 

An  enclitic  pronoun  is  that  which  leans,  or  inclines, 
upon  the  word  which  immediately  precedes  it.  It  coa- 
lesces with  it  in  pronunciation,  so  as  to  seem  an  integral 
part  of  that  word. 


188  PKOXOUNS  ENCLITIC  AND  EMPHATIC. 

An  emphatic  pronoun  attaches  to  itself  a  distinct 
personality,  claiming  an  uncombined  enunciation. 

Knclitic — as,  Give  vie  the  book,  O  spare  mc  a  little, 
pronounced  as  if  written,  giveme,  spareme. 

The  following  sentence  combines  both  the  enclitic 
and  the  emphatic  pronoun: — 

"  Wlio  steals  my  jnirso,  steals  trash 

l>iit  lie  that  lilches  from  inc  my  good  name, 

Hobs  7ne  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 

And  makes  me  poor  indeed."  SirAKSPKAiiK. 

Jlim  and  the  latter  me  are  in  this  case  not  only  em- 
phatic, but  contradistinctivc,  antithetical. 

So  again : — 

"  Richmond  is  on  the  seas." 

"There  let  him  sink,  and  be  the  seas  on  him!" 

SHAKSPEAUE. 

'•  Inlendcst  thou  to  kill  me.  as  thou  killedst  the  K<ryptian  ycs- 
trnhiy  T'^Exod.  ii.  11. 

"  IJlcss  nie,  even  me  also.  0  my  father !" — (rcn.  xxvii.  38. 

"  Oh,  burst  the  harem — wrong  not,  on  your  lives, 
One  female  form — remember  we  have  wives." 

Corsair,  canto  2. 

"Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  fhem  that  trespass 
against  its." 

Us  is  licrc  emphatic,  and  ouglit  to  be  read  as  such; 
ollierwiso,  the  antithesis  of  the  sentence  is  destroyed. 
So  forgive  us,  when  we  trespa.ss  against  thee,  as  we  for- 
give them  that  trospaas  against  rts.  Tlmn,  and  j/n,  and 
our  arc  all  emphatic. 

Any  man  may  have  a  defective  voice;  that  is  a  natu- 
ral defect,  which  he  cannot  remedy;  at  lca.st,  but  par- 


PRONOUNS  ENCLITIC  AND  EMPHATIC.  189 

tially ;  but  notliing  is  so  offensive,  nothing  sliows  so 
srreat  an  is^norance  of  the  bearing  of  a  sentence,  as  the 
confusion  of  enclitic  and  emphatic  pronouns. 
,  Instances  of  marked  emphatic  pronouns  abound.  To 
observe  them  requires  nothing  more  than  common 
sense  and  common  apprehension.  There  is  a  voice- 
grammar,  as  Avcll  as  a  written  grammar.  In  giving 
utterance  to  our  own  natural  sentiments,  voice-grammar 
is  seldom  violated.  False  emphasis  and  false  intonation 
indicate  the  want  of  a  distinct  apprehension  of  an  au- 
thor's meaning,  and  virtually  falsify  his  intentions. 

Let  us  take  the  following  sentence,  and  place  upon 
tlie  pronoun  him  a  wrong  emphasis  : — 

"  And  he  said,  Saddle  me  the  ass,  and  they  saddled  him." 

Him  being  pronounced  without  any  emphasis,  and 
enclitically.  But  place  a  strong  emphasis  on  him,  and 
the  pronoun  becomes  antithetical.  "And  he  said.  Sad- 
dle me  the  ass ;"  and,  instead  of  saddling  the  ass,  they 
saddled  him — the  person  who  gave  the  order;  him 
with  the  verbal  emphasis  being  antithetical,  and  in  fact 
changing  the  personality  altogether.  Verbal  emphasis 
is  an  unchangeable  principle,  and  in  this  respect  differs 
from  syllabic  emphasis,  which  sometimes  depends  on 
the  analogy  of  the  language  in  question,  and  sometimes 
on  custom. 

Such  words  as  retinue  and  revenue,  advertisement, 
committee,  and  many  others,  have  had  a  fluctuating  syl- 
labic emphasis.  The  general  tendency  of  our  pronun- 
ciation is,  however,  to  throw  the  emphasis  as  far  back 
as  possible — that  is,  as  near  to  the  beginning  of  the 


100  THE  RELATIVE  PRONOUNS, 

word  as  possible.  This  is  often  done  in  the  face  of  an 
increased  difTiculty  of  enunciation,  as  commendaUe ; 
and  even  irrefragable  has  been  attempted.  The  syllahic 
emphasis  is,  then,  a  fluctuating  principle,  and  leads  to 
error  only  when  two  words  having  dilVerent  meanings 
are  sjielt  alike;  as,  conjure,  conjiire,  desert,  desert. 
But,  if  a  person  clearly  comprehends  what  he  utters, 
he  will,  from  mere  natural  impulse,  use  the  verbal  em- 
phasis where  it  ought  to  be  used;  and  it  is  in  the  pro- 
noun where  the  most  decided  perversion  of  the  meaning 
of  a  sentence  is  likely  to  take  place  by  misplaced  em- 
phasis. A  child  would  learn  sijllnbic  accent  by  imita- 
lian;  verbal  emphasis  is  the  result  of  natural  feeling. 
The  merest  child  would  say,  "(jive  me  that  pretty 
thing,"  give  me  being  enclitic;  but  if  the  same  child 
were  contending  for  the  pretty  thing  willi  another 
child,  it  would  say  "Give  it  to  me,"  or  "  Give  me  that 
pretty  thing,"  me^  me,  me. 


CllA  VT  V.  \l    VII. 

THE  REI,.\TIVE  PRONOUNS— WHO  AND  WHICH. 

TiiKuseofthe  relative  pronoun  nJio  and  n7/o;/?,  as 
a  general  rule,  seems  to  be  confined  to  rational  crea- 
tures; iiliicli,  to  the  brute  creation  and  inanimate  things. 
In  the  violation  of  this  rule,  there  is  something  olVensivo 
to  our  feelings.  It  is  true  we  say  tiie  men  uln'ch,  be- 
cause wc  mean  the  men,  ithich  men:  ami  wc  say  the 
iloga  which ;   but   wc  do   uvt  say   the  dogs  iclio.     Cats 


WHO  AND  WHICH.  101 

would  not  fare  much  better,  in  spite  of  the  following 
authority: — 

"  This  person  informed  me  that  he  had  the  horror  to  see  his 
own  child  dragged  to  the  door  by  eight  or  ten  cats,  whom  he  with 
difficulty  scared  away." — Barnes's  Travels. 

Custom  has,  however,  authorized  the  use  of  whose  when 
we  speak  of  men,  brutes,  or  inanimate  things.  As, 
"  The  man  whose  peace  you  have  destroyed ;"  "  The  wild 
beasts,  whose  roaring  was  dreadful;"  "Virtue,  ivhose 
form  is  lovely."  The  expression  probably  originated 
in  the  love  of  brevity.  If  we  do  not  use  lohose,  we 
must  say,  of  ichom,  or  of  ichich.  This  in  English  was 
enough  to  decide  the  question.  The  principle  is  now 
fully  sanctioned  by  general  adoption.  The  same  apo- 
logy does  not  apply  to  who  and  whom:  who  and  whom 
gain  nothing  in  brevity  over  ivhich. 

"  I  shall,  therefore,  since  the  rules  of  style,  like  those  of  law, 
arise  from  precedents  often  repeated,  collect  the  testimonies  on 
both  sides,  and  endeavor  to  discover  and  promulgate  the  decrees 
of  custom,  icho  has  so  long  possessed,  whether  by  right  or  usurpa- 
tion, ihe  sovereignty  of  words." 

"  Custom,  zc/io,"  cannot  be  tolerated. 

"  The  olfactory  nerves  of  the  Cetacca,  in  whom  the  blowing 
holes  occupy  the  place  of  the  nose." — Laiorence's  Lectures. 

Though  whom,  as  in  the  case  of  the  cats  already  noticed, 
is  here  applied  to  living  objects,  yet  we  feel  that  the 
application  is  offensive  and  unnecessary. 

"  My  lips  will  be  fain  when  I  sing  unto  thee,  and  so  will  my 
soul,  ivhom  thou  hast  delivered." — Psalm  Ixxi.  21. 


192  THE  RELATIVE  PRONOUNS, 

The  propriety  of  ichom,  in  this  situntion,  would  depend 
upon  the  force  aud  authority  of  custom  at  the  time  it 
•\vas  used. 

"These  cousidcrations  naturally  lead  to  the  consideration  of 
a  miracle,  in  which  the  kingdom  of  (Jod  is  personally  exalted 
over  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  which  shows  the  superiority  of 
faith,  even  when  exerted  over  those  principalities  and  thrones, 
who,  by  the  first  man's  transgression,  obtained,"  &c. — Kcimel. 

"  I  sailed  along  the  ancient  city  of  Triara,  and  then  reached 
'i'cncdos,  fifty  miles  north  of  it,  where  a  Mahometan,  Adun  Oglou, 
was  banished  from  Constantinople,  on  account  of  his  riches,  which 
had  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  I'orte,  icho  also  compelled  him  to 
build  a  fortification  for  the  defence  of  the  former." — J\ac  Wilson. 

In  both  these  examples,  personality  ought  to  have 
merged  in  the  terms  pwic/))a/<V/e!J,  and  thrones,  and 
Porte,  as  indicating  the  constituted  powers  of  govern- 
ment in  the  abstract,  and  therefore  wo  expect  uhich 
instead  of  tcho. 

Both  sentences  arc  altogether  badly  constructed. 
Again : — 

"  It  is  a  kind  of  basin  thirty  feet  in  length,  twelve  in  breadth, 
and  fifteen  in  depth,  enclosed  by  a  wall,  which  comes  from  a  dis- 
tance of  several  miles,  runs  beneath  Jerusalem,  and  is  of  a 
brackish,  disagrcCal>lc  taste." — Ibiil. 

In  this  passage,  the  relative  u-hich  attaches  itself  to  the 
immediate  antecedent  wall,  and  we  do  not  discover  our 
mistake  till  we  find  the  wall  running  under  Jerusalem, 
and  having  a  brackish,  disagreeable  taste.  Nothing, 
then,  remains  as  an  antecedent  but  the  word  basin. 
Then  we  have  a  basin  enclosed  by  a  wall,  running,  that 
is  the  basin,  under  .Icrusalcm,  and  having  a  brackish, 
«lisagreeablo  taste. 


WHO  AND  WHICH.  193 

Mr.  Eae  Wilson  is  sometimes  unfortunate  botli  in  bis 
facts  and  in  his  mode  of  narrating.  Take  the  following 
effort  at  chaotic  sublimity.  The  view  is  from  the  summit 
of  Mount  Etna,  and  the  description  is  at  least  curious. 

"  A  horizon  of  boundless  extent,  emhracing  a  similar  tract  of 
country,  dotted  with  numerous  villages,  and  showing  the  whole 
course  of  many  rivers,  from  their  source  to  their  estttary,  in  their 
serpentine  <Z^Verf^ons, Ihrough  all  their  windings,  which  (what?) 
glittered  in  the  beams  of  morning  like  silver  threads,  hoary  mount- 
ains, like  billows  on  a  tempestuous  ocean,  and  the  smoke  of 
mouldering  (query?  smouldering)  volcanoes." 

In  this  one  sentence,  there  is  food  for  an  essay.  It 
reels,  and  staggers,  and  talks  inconsistent  nonsense  like 
a  drunken  Helot,  and  conveys  the  same  moral.  The 
subject  is  too  great  for  the  powers  of  the  writer,  and  he 
sinks  under  a  fruitless  effort  to  give  a  description  ade- 
quate to  the  object.  A  subject  like  this  is  a  dangerous 
subject  in  ordinary  hands.  The  fault  is  not  so  much  in 
the  failure  as  in  the  attempt.* 

In  the  first  clause  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Americans 
have  changed  ivhich  into  ivho,  as  being  more  consonant 
to  the  rules  of  grammar. 

"  This  "  (justly  observes  the  author  of  "  Men  and  Manners  in 
America")  "  is  poor  criticism  ;  for  it  will  scarcely  be  denied,  that 
the  use  of  the  neuter  pronoun  carried  with  it  a  certain  vagueness 

*  The  same  gentleman  must  pardon  incredulity,  when  he  says, 
"  Etna,  and  the  peak  of  Tencriffe,  arc  estimated  as  (he  most  ele- 
vated points  on  the  earth."  If  he  had  said,  arc  estimated  at  half 
the  height  of  "the  most  elevated  points  on  the  earth."  he  would 
have  been  near  the  truth.  Nor  can  we  altogether  believe  that 
"  the  very  water  of  the  river  ((Juadalquivcr)  fattens  horses  more 
than  the  barley  of  other  countries." 

17 


194  THE  RELATIVE  I'UONOUNS, 

and  sultlimif y.  not  inappropriate  in  rcmindlnpr  us  that  our  worship 
is  adilrcsscil  to  a  Being,  infinite  and  superior  to  all  distinction^ 
applicable  to  material  objects." 

"  Jesus  Christ !  what  great  crime  have  I  done  ?  who  of  those 
who  believed  in  you  have  I  c^'er  treated  so  cruelly  ?" — Frankai- 
stein. 

Whom  of  those  ?  Who  of  those  is  grammatically  as  faulty 
as  he  treated  she  very  badly. 

"  Who  scrvcst  thou  under?"         SnAKspEARB. 
Whom,  that  is,  under  ivhom  servest  thou  ? 

"  This,  it  seems,  was  proved  l)y  the  report  of  l>r.  AViilter  Daily, 
some  time  fellow  of  New  College,  then  living  in  Oxford,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Physic  in  that  University ;  whom,  because  he  would  not 
consent  to  take  away  her  life  by  poison,  the  Karl  endeavored  to 
displace  him  n1  court." — Ashmoh's  Antiquities. 

The  word  him  is  superfluous. 

"  lie  whom  ye  pretend  reigns  in  heaven,  is  so  fur  from  protect- 
ing the  miserable  sons  of  men,  that  ho  perpetually  delights  to  blast 
the  sweetest  flowers  in  the  garden  of  hope." — Spvct.  No.  76. 

"  lie  lo'ho  reigns  iu  heaven,  as  ye  pretend."  Ye  pre- 
tend is  merely  |)arenthctical,  and  has  no  influence  what- 
ever upon  the  relative  tcho,  and  the  verb  rcijiis. 

"  If  you  were  here,  you  would  find  three  or  four  in  the  parlor 
after  dinner,  whom  (you  would  say)  passed  their  time  agreeably." 
— Locke,  Jjctter  to  L.  Muli/iieux. 

Youivould say  is  again  parenthetical,  and  has  no  clTcct 
upon  the  grammatical  construction  of  the  rest  of  the 
sentence.  Strike  out  the  words  you  would  say,  and  liow 
transparent  \s  a  Kcntence  like  thi.s.  "You  would  find 
three  or  four  there,  in  the  parlor,  after  dinner,  who 
parsed, their  time  agreeably 


WHO  AND  WHICH.  195 

"  On  examining  the  above  sum  of  199Z.  15s.  Od.,  it  appears  that 
the  sum  of  dll.  3s.  lOcl.  was  actually  paid  for  subsistence  to  men 
with  families,  and  single  men,  able  to  work,  but  could  not  obtain 
work." — Appendix  to  the  Report  of  Committee  on  the  Poor  Rate 
Returns. 

The  relative  who  is  wanting  before  the  verb  could. 

"  Breaking  a  constitution  by  the  very  same  errors,  that  so  many 
have  been  broke  before." — Stvift,  Contests  and  Dissensions. 

It  seems  incredible  that  a  man  of  Swift's  literary  cha- 
racter should  ever  have  written  a  sentence  so  faulty 
as  this.  Here  is  a  sentence  of  fifteen  words,  with  three 
grammatical  errors,  glaring  and  palpable.  It  is  one 
which  warns  us  against  being  led  away  by  the  mere  au- 
thority of  names.  Bf/  is  required  before  the  relative, 
that  ought  to  be  tvhich,  and  broke  hrolcen. 

That,  if  ever  proper,  as  including  the  relative  ivJdch, 
has  ceased  to  be  so  now.  "  We  speak  that  we  do  know, 
and  testify  that  we  have  seen"  (John  iii.  11),  is  a  phrase 
not  consistent  with  modern  usage. 

"  Of  a  more  serious  kind  arc  the  injuries  done  to  private  indi- 
viduals, which  no  one  deplores  more  than  I  the  cause  of  them." — 
Article,  Errors  of  the  Press. 

Which,  and  them,  in  this  sentence,  are  incompatible. 
One  of  them  is  useless.  Thus,  "  of  a  more  serious  kind 
are  the  injuries  done  to  private  individuals;  the  inno- 
cent cause  of  which  no  one  deplores  more  than  I  do." 

.  "  And  I  beg  you  not  to  think  that  this  only  applies  to  parents 
in  a  higher  line  of  life  than  yours,  and  are  therefore  esteemed  more 
learned,  and  more  instructed  than  you  are." — Ilaggit's  Sennons. 

The  relative  icho  is  wanting  before  are ;  otherwise,  the 


196  WHO  AND  WHICH. 

verb  «re  will  have  no  nominative  case;  as  the  term 
2ycirents  occurs  in  the  objective  case  in  the  preceding 
member  of  the  sentence. 

The  following  sentence  is  liable  to  the  same  objec- 
tion.    The  relative  ivho  is  wanting: — 

••  There  is  Miss  Lidily.  can  dance  a  ji;r.  raise  paste,  write  a  good 
hand,  keep  an  account,  give  a  reasoualile  answer,  and  do  as  she 
is  b  k\:'—S!pec(.  3()G. 

"  It  has  been  remarked  by  some  nice  observers  and  critics, 
that  there  is  nothing  discovers  the  true  temper  of  a  person  so 
much  as  his  letters," — Sped. 

That  nolJiiurj  dif^rmrrs,  or,  "that  there  is  nothing  ichich 
discovers,''  &c. 

"There  is  nothing  places  religion  in  so  disadvantageous  a 
view." — Sli I  rinrl'.s  Sermons. 

There  is  nothing ///a^  places,  &c. 

"  I  have  hardly  seen  a  line  from  any  of  these  gentlemen,  hut 
spoke  them,  as  absent  from  wliat  they  were  doing,  as  they  profess 
they  are,  when  they  come  into  company." — Spec.  284. 

But  spoke — that  or  uhich  did  not  speak  them. 

"We  have  thus  gone  through  the  art  of  poetry,  which,  as  it  is 
a  work  that  refpiired  to  be  explained  with  ])articular  exactness, 
I  have  enlarged  the  notes  considerably." — Watsoi's  Translation 
fif  Horace's  Art  of  Pott rt/. 

The  relative  rchich  has  here  no  grammatical  connection 
with  any  other  member  or  word  of  the  sentence. 

As  improj)crly  u.scd  for  the  Kclativc. 

"As  if  tlicrc  was  no  difTcrcncc!  between  Aliraham's  interceding 
for  Sodom,  for  which  he  hud  no  warrant,  as  we  can  find,  and  our 


KELATIVE  PRONOUN  OMITTED  IDIOMATICALLY.      197 

asking  those  tilings  which  we  are  required  to  pray  for."— Spec^. 
312. 

If  as  supplies  the  place  of  the  relative  that,  it  is  a  mere 
vulgarism;  if  not,  it  alters  the  meaning  of  the  sentence. 

"  The  very  night  as  would  have  suited  a  melancholic  pensivc- 
ness." — Clayton's  Narrative. 

That. 

"  Hia  work,  in  eight  books,  comprehends  twenty  years  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  and  is  written  with  a  depth  of  reasoning, 
clearness  of  conception,  and  vigor,  and  dignity  of  language,  as 
has  not  been  equalled  by  any  other  Greek  historian." — Peitli- 
man  on  Latin  Composition,  p.  130. 

Not  with  "a  depth  of  reasoning  as  has  not  been 
equalled:"  either,  "suc/i  a  depth  of  reasoning  as  has 
not  been  equalled,"  or  "  a  depth  of  reasoning  that  has 
not  been  equalled." 

What  do  we  think  of  "  This  is  the  man  as  I  saw" — 
"This  is  the  woman  as  is  not  to  be  equalled" — "This 
is  the  animal  as  chews  the  thistle  ?" 


CEAPTER  VIII. 

RELATIVE  PRONOUN  OMITTED  IDIOMATICALLY. 

In  common  conversation,  and  familiar  narrative,  it  is 
not  usual  to  omit  the  relative  pronoun  altogether. 
This  probably  arises  from  that  spirit  of  contraction 
which  so  generally  pervades  our  language.     As,  this  is 

17* 


108  AMBIGUITT  AT^ISIN'G  FROM 

(he  man  I  spoke  o/,  that  is,  0/  ichom  I  spoke:  this  is 
the  house  he  built;  that  is,  ichich  he  built.  Use  has 
sanctioned  this  elliptical  mode  of  expression ;  but  in 
serious  and  solemn  subjects  it  ought  to  be  avoided. 

In  the  following  sentence,  the  relative  pronoun  is 
three  times  omitted  : — 

"Is  there  a  Gotl  to  swear  hif,  ami  is  there  none  to  believe  in, 
none  to  trust  to  ?" — Letters  and  Esaai/s,  Anoni/mous. 

Bi/,  171,  and  to,  as  prepositions,  stand  alone,  denuded  of 
the  relatives  to  which  they  apply.  The  sentence  pre- 
sents no  attractions  worthy  of  imitation.  It  exhibits  a 
license  carried  to  the  extreme  point  of  endurance. 

In  that  passage  in  the  Bible  in  which  Joseph  is  re- 
presented as  inquiring  affectionately  after  his  fathers 
welfare,  the  translators  have  not  put  this  flippant 
phraseology  into  his  mouth,  but  made  him  to  express 
liimself  in  more  dignified  and  respectful  language. 

•'Is  your  father  wvll,  the  old  man  of  whom  yc  spake?" — Gen. 
.xliii.  27. 


Cll  A  PTKR   IX. 

AMHinriTY  AKISING  FROM  THE  PLURALITY  OF 
AXTKCKDKNTS. 

"  Tliere  is  umoiip  the  people  of  all  countries  and  all  relij^ions, 
a  heliof  of  immortality,  arisinf;  from  the  natural  desire  of  living, 
and  Htrenpthened  by  uniform  tradition,  which  has  certainly  sftme 
inllueni'O  upon  ])racti(c.  and  some  efTect  in  fortifying  the  coul 
against  the  terrors  of  dfallj." — Ijiudsai/n  Svrmonn, 

The  relative  nhic/t   is  licre  too   far  Kcparato<l   from  its 


THE  PLURALITY  OF  ANTECEDENTS.  199 

antecedent  lelief.  The  first  impression  made  in  reading 
the  sentence  is,  that  tradition  is  the  antecedent.  The 
intervening  words  almost  obliterate  the  remembrance 
of  the  real  antecedent  lelief.  Tradition  dwells  upon 
the  mind,  as  well  as  on  the  ear,  and  connects  itself  with 
the  relative  immediately  following. 

"  For  he  halh  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin."-  ■ 
New  Testament. 

Here  the  meaning  deduced  from  our  own  knowledge 
of  the  fact  is  at  variance  with  that  which  is  deducible 
from  the  strict  grammatical  arrangement  of  the  sen- 
tence. Though  the  term  him  is  the  antecedent  to  the 
relative  who,  and  required  to  be  so  by  the  facts  of  the 
case,  yet  us,  from  its  juxtaposition  with  icho,  presents 
itself  as  the  proper  antecedent.  By  reason  of  the  in- 
flexion of  the  verb,  in  its  grammatical  concord  with 
the  relative,  no  mistake  can  arise  in  Latin  or  Greek; 
but  in  English  the  passage  is  ambiguous.  If  the  pas- 
sage had  run,  "For  he  hath  made  him,  who  knew  no 
sin,  to  be  sin  for  us"  all  ambiguity  would  have  been 
avoided. 

The  following  passage  from  Milton  presents  us  with 
a  peculiar  construction,  as  respects  the  antecedent  and 
the  relative.  A  participle  is  thrown  in  between  them. 
But,  as  no  other  word  can  be  mistaken  for  the  ante- 
cedent, no  obscurity  can  arise  from  this  construction, 
though  singular  in  its  kind, 

"  Nay,  lady,  sit ;  if  I  but  wave  tliis  wand, 
Your  nerves  are  all  chained  up  in  alabaster. 
And  you  a  statue,  or  as  Daphne  was, 
'Rooi-bormd,  that  fled  Apollo."  Milton. 


200  PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES. 

CHAPTER  X. 

PRONOUN  ADJECTIVES. 

Aught. 
This  pronominal  adjective  is  sometimes  written  ought, 
but  erroneously  so.  Were  it  only  for  the  sake  of  dis- 
tinguishing it  from  the  verb  ouglU,  it  would  be  desira- 
ble that  it  should  be  written  aught,  and  not  ought,  but 
it  is  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  aht,  written  also 
aught  and  awhit,  signifying  anything;  and  therefore 
there  can  be  no  reason,  either  etymologically  or  other- 
wise, for  writing  ought  and  7iought.  Aht,  aught ;  ne 
(not)  aht,  naht,  naught,  not  anything. 

"It  is  naurjht,  it  is  naught,  saitli  the  buyer;  but  when  he  is 
gone  his  way,  then  he  boasteth." — Prov.  xx.  14. 

"  Nor  aught  avails  him  now, 
To  have  built  in  heaven  high  towers."        Paradise  Lost. 

An>/. 
Any  is  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  JiMiig,  ullus, 
any  one.     In  the  time  of  Henry  the  Third,  it  was  writ- 
ten oni,  masculine,  onie,  feminine. 

"And  gif  oni,  other  ouie  cumcu  her  cmgones." 

"  Anil  if  any  uuin,  or  any  woman  come  hero  against." 

Pat.  Hot.  Iknry  III. 

This  distinction  of  gender  is  now  lost. 

In  the  following  sentence,  any  is  erroneously  used 
for  all: — 

"  Whatever  bu  the  motive,  tiny  arc  not  only  the  most  churitar 


PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES.  201 

ble  of  any  other  nation,  but  most  judicious  in  distinguishing  the 
properest  objects  of  compassion." — Goldsmith' s  Citizen  of  the 
World. 

■  The  most  charitable  of  all  other  nations,  or  more 
charitable  than  any  other  nation. 

Either  and  Neither. 

Either^  Anglo-Saxon  cegther,  answers  to  the  Latin 
term  uter,  which  invariably  refers  to  one  of  two  things, 
and  not  one  of  a  plurality.  So  also  neither  refers  to 
two  things  only,  and  answers  to  neuter,  neither  of  the 
two.  But  none,  no  one,  refers  to  a  plurality  of  objects, 
and  is  sometimes  plural  itself.  As,  "  Two  were  invited, 
but  neither  of  them  came;"  "  I  should  have  been  satis- 
fied, if  eitlier  of  the  two  had  come ;"  "  Twenty  were 
invited,  but  none.^  no  one  (emphatically,  and  in  the 
singular  number),  not  one  of  them  came."  An  ille- 
gitimate and  nngrammatical  use  of  these  words,  either 
and  neither,  has  lately  been  creeping  into  the  language, 
in  the  application  of  these  terms  to  aplurality  of  objects; 
as,  "  Twenty  ruffians  broke  into  the  house,  but  neither 
of  them  could  be  recognized."  "Here  are  Jifty  pens, 
you  will  find  that  either  of  them  will  do." 

"  For  injustice  springs  only  from  three  causes  ;  either  because 
we  have  not  the  wisdom  to  perceive  what  is  just,  or  the  power  to 
enforce  it,  or  the  benevolence  to  will  it. — Neither  of  these  causes 
for  injustice  can  be  found  in  a  being  wise,  powerful,  benevolent." 
— iVtJV  Monthly,  Conversations  with  an  Ambitions  Student. 

None  of  these  causes,  720^  one  of  these  causes. 

"  At  last,  a  servant,  who  had  lived  with  him.  and  knew  the  way 
of'  the  house,  plotted  with  one  Cain  a  cooper,  and  ono  Digny  a 


202  PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVfiS. 

school-master,  and  a  fellow  of  the  name  of  M'llonry,  to  rob  the 
house,  on  a  Sabbath  evening.  Neither  of  them  lived  in  that  neigh- 
borhood."— Life  of  Dr.  Clarke. 

^^  None,  or  not  one,  of  them  lived  ia  that  neighbor- 
hood." 

Either  and  neither,  applied  to  any  number  more  than 
one  of  two  objects,  is  a  mere  solecism,  and  one  of  late 
introduction. 

An  Other,  Anotlier,  the  Other. 

Another  refers  to  one  of  many,  the  other  to  one  of  two; 
as,  "  Here  are  ten  volumes  of  books;  take  this  one,  or 
another,  if  you  please,"  speaking  indefinitely.  '' llero 
are  two  books;  take  this,  or  the  other,  if  you  please," 
speaking  definitely.  "Two  men  were  standing  on  the 
road;  one  walked  away,  the  other  remained."  "Two 
men  were  standing  on  the  road,  and  another  came  up." 
"Two  women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill,  the  one 
shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left;"  "una  aecipietur, 
altera  relinquctur." 

Confusion  of  Another  with  the  Other. 

"  And  tlirycumo  into  the  house  of  IJiuil,  and  the  houi^c  oflJaal 
•was  full  from  one  end  to  anolhcr." — 2  Kings  x. 

If  the  house  of  Baal,  like  most  houses,  had  only  two 
ends,  it  might  bo  full  from  one  end  to  the  oilier,  not 
anotlier,  which  implies  one  end  of  many. 

"  Bat.  should  ho  persist  in  ri'fusing  your  dauglilor.  then  prepare 
the  felok  and  the  Bticka,  collect  your  HtrongcHt  fcrashes,  and  let 
them  strike,  till  you  cannot  tell  one  foot  from  another." — Zorah. 


PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES.  203 

As  Zorab  bad,  probably,  only  two  feet,  the  expression 
ought  to  have  been  one  from  the  other. 

"These  two  kinds  of  diction,  prose  and  poetry,  are  so  different 
one  from  anoihav,  that  the  one  will  hinder  more  than  assist  the 
other." — Peithman's  Latin  Composition. 

As  the  kinds  of  diction  mentioned  are  but  two,  the 
writer  ought  to  have  said/?-o?7i  each  other,  not  one  from 
another.  Any  number  of  objects  above  two  might 
differ  from  one  another ;  but  two  differ  from  each  other. 
It  may  also  be  observed  of  this  passage,  that  to  '■^hinder 
more  than  assist''^  is  nonsense.  The  terms  are  contrary, 
and  do  not  admit  of  mixture.  Where  hindrance  begins, 
there  can  be  no  assistance.  We  cannot  depress  an 
object  two  inches,  and  simultaneously  raise  it  one  inch, 
ninder  rather  than  assist. 

"The  reed  grows  to  an  amazing  height,  as  the  part  the  Indians 
use  is  from  ten  to  eleven  feet  long,  and  no  tapering  can  be  per- 
ceived, one  end  being  as  thick  as  another." — Wanderings  in 
South  America. 

Again  :  the  other. 

The  Other  in  the  Place  of  Another. 

"  On  looking  upwards,  we  saw  them  clinging  by  myriads  to  the 
roof,  all  in  convulsive  motion,  with  glittering  eyes,  open  mouths, 
and  hideous  trembling  wings,  seeming,  in  their  fear,  to  be  hang- 
ing one  to  the  other,  tier  below  tier." — St.  John's  Egypt,  vol.  i. 
p.  147. 

As  there  were  myriads  of  bats,  they  must  have  hung 
one  to  onother.  They  formed  a  concatenation  of  bats, 
and  one  bat  hung  to  another  bat  throughout  the  whole 
series. 


20-1  PRONOMINAL  APJECTIVES. 

"  Dioilorus,  whose  design  was  to  refer  all  occurrences  to  years, 
is  of  more  credit  in  a  point  of  cbronolotry  than  IMiitarch,  or  any 
other,  who  write  lives  by  the  lump." — Ikntlvi/'s  Disscrtalion  on 
Thcntist.  Epistles. 

"  Or  any  others  who  write." 

Each. 

Each  is  connected  with  he,  him.  she,  her,  it,  and  not 
with  the)/,  tliein. 

'•  And  they  dreamed  a  dream,  l)Oth  of  them.  e<ich  man  his  dream 
in  one  night,  eacli  man  according  to  the  interpretation  of  his 
dream."' — Gen.  xl.  5. 

"To  each  his  proper  phantom  fell, 
^Vhilst  CiL'sar  reigned,  the  general  care  of  hell." 

11o\ve'.s  Ll'ca.n's  J'harsalia. 

"  Each  had  his  place  appointed,  carh  his  course." 

Paradise  Lost,  book  iii. 

Jlis  in  all  these  cases  is  right.  Each  is  always  taken 
distributivcly,  and  isthercforencccssarily  of  the  singular 
number,  and  will  therefore  be  connected  graniniatically 
with  the  personal  pronoun  of  the  singular  number. 
Every  is  also  distributive,  and  follows  the  same  rule. 
The  following  passage  has  their  improperly  in  the  place 
of  his,  as  the  correlative  of  every. 

"And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  that  were  in  it.  and  death  and 
hell  gave  up  the  dead  that  were  in  them  ;  and  they  were  judged 
cvvry  man  according  to  their  works." — Rev.  \\.  l.'J. 

His  works. 


PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES.  205 

Self. 

SeJfis  used  in  conjunctioa  with  the  personal  pro- 
nouns /,  lliou,  he  ;  and  selves  with  the  plurals  of  these, 
lu'e^  ye,  and  theij.  In  the  Anglo-Saxon,  self  was  de- 
clinable ;  but  about  the  time  of  Chaucer  it  shared  the 
same  fate  as  that  which  many  other  declinable  words 
had  undergone.  Self  varied  in  number,  case,  and 
gender,  according  to  circumstances;  and  the  language 
did  not  present  the  curious  incongruity  of  such  ex- 
pressions as  I  wyself,  thou  thyseW,  he  himseW,  &c.  Both 
the  pronoun  and  self  combined  with  it  varied  according 
to  the  case,  gender,  or  number  required.     As — 

Singular.  Plural. 

Icsylf,  I  self.  Wesylfe,        We  selves. 

Miasylfes,      of  myself.  Urensylpha,  of  our  selves,  &c. 

Selves  is  the  only  variation  of  self  now  remaining. 
We  now  say — 

Singular.  Plural. 

I  myself.  We  ourselves. 

Thou  thyself.  Ye  yourselves. 

He  himself.  They  themselves. 
She  herself. 

So  that  /  stands  connected  with  its  own  possessive 
form  in  7?i?/self,  thoxL  also  with  ^/i?/self;  whilst  Ae,  site, 
and  they  are  connected  with  their  own  ohjeciive  form  in 
/i/mself,  </<emselves.  These  forms  seem  to  have  been 
regulated  by  euphony  rather  than  grammar,  for  no 
grammatical  principle  can  be  recognized.  I  self,  thou 
self,  we  selves,  are  objectionable  as  combinations  of 
sound,  though  consistent  with  ancient  authority,  and 
with  grammar. 
18 


206  REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT, 

In  the  present  state  of  the  English  language,  myself 
and  thyself,  and  ourselves  and  yourselves,  and  himself 
and  themselves,  are  not  used  alone,  at  least  in  the 
nominative  case.  We  do  not  say  "  myself  did  it," 
"thyself  did  it,"  but  /  mijsc\^,  thou  tJiT/saU,  &c.,  such 
expressions  being  strongly  and  distinctly  personal. 

Itself  has  no  variation,  though  it  is  probable  that  the 
s,  indicating  the  possessive  case  of  this  word,  has  been 
dropped,  because  self  begins  with  an  s ;  as  self,  ils  self, 
contracted  to  ?7self. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

REPETITION  OF  THE  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT. 

The  frequent  repetition  of  the  pronoun  in  a  sentence 
gives  force,  beauty,  or  tenderness,  just  as  the  nature  of 
the  subject  may  require.  It  is  true,  this  is  not  strictly 
a  question  of  grammar;  still,  it  is  one  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  vigor,  the  perspicuity,  and  the  beauty 
of  composition. 

Take  the  following  passage  from  the  hymn  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  addressed  to  the  Creator: — 

"Ilis  praise,  yc  wiiuls,  that  from  four  (luartcrs  blow, 
IJrcuthc  soft  or  loud,  and  wave  your  tops,  yo  pines  1 
Willi  every  pliiul,  in  sif^n  of  worship  wiive. 
Foiiiilains,  and  V'  that  warlilo  uh  »/'   1I«'W, 
Melodious  niiiriuur.H,  warlilin^  tune  his  pruisc. 
Juin  voices  ull,  i/c  living  bouls,  yc  birds, 


REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT.  207 

That  singing  up  to  heaven-gate  ascend, 

Bear  on  your  wings,  and  in  your  notes  his  praise." 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  v. 

This  principle  is  still  more  forcibly  exemplified  in  the 
scene  between  Adam  and  Eve,  after  their  fatal  trans- 
gression. As  she  clasps  his  knees,  and  supplicates  for- 
giveness, she  never  allows  him  one  moment  for  reflec- 
tion. She  places  her  beloved  image  before  him  under 
every  variety  of  condition,  and  mingles  their  past,  pre- 
sent, and  future  destinies  together  in  an  overpowering 
flood  of  tenderness. 

"  Forsake  me  not  thus,  Adam  !     Witness  heaven  ! 
What  love  sincere,  and  reverence,  in  my  heart, 
1  bear  thee,  and  unweeting  have  offended, 
Unhappily  deceived  !     Thy  suppliant, 
/beg,  and  clasp  thy  knees — bereave  me  not 
Whereon  I  live — thy  gentle  looks,  thy  aid, 
Thy  counsel,  in  this  uttermost  distress, 
M>j  only  strength  and  stay !    Forlorn  of  thee, 
Whither  shall  /betake  me?  where  subsist? 
While  yet  we  live — scarce  one  short  hour  perhaps — 
Between  us  two  let  there  be  peace,  both  joining, 
As  joined  in  injuries,  one  enmity. 
Against  a  foe  by  doom  express  assigned  us. 
That  cruel  serpent.     On  me  exercise  not 
Thy  hatred,  for  this  misery  befallen, 
On  me  already  lost — me  than  myself 
More  miserable  !     Both  have  sinned,  but  thou 
Against  God  only — /  against  God  and  thee. 
And  to  the  place  of  judgment  will  return. 
There  with  my  cries  irap6rtune  heaven  that  all 
The  sentence,  from  thy  head  removed,  may  light 
On  me,  sole  cause  to  thee  of  all  this  woe. 
Me,  me,  only,  just  object  of  this  ire."  Ihid.  b.  x. 

In  this  passage,  the  pronoun  alternating  between  Adam 


208  REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT. 

and  Eve,  as  personal  or  possessive,  is  used  no  less  than 
thirit/  Umcs;  and  it  is,  in  a  great  degree,  to  this  cir- 
cumstance, to  the  intense  personality  of  the  scene,  that 
much  of  its  beauty  and  inimitable  tenderness  is  to  be 
attributed.  It  rouses  all  the  generous  impulses  of  the 
soul,  and, 

"  As  one  disarmed,  his  anger  all  he  lost." 

Heaven  had  given  Eve  as  a  help-meet  to  Adam,  and 
he  now  feels  the  full  force  of  a  former  acknowledg- 
ment:— 

" ITow  can  I  live  without  thee!     TTow  forofjo 
Tin/  sweet  conv6rse.  and  love  so  dearly  join'd. 
To  live  in  these  wild  icouih  forlorn  I"* 

We  see  the  same  principle  running  through  Eve's 
farewell  address  to  Paradise,  when  the  archangel  com- 
manded them  to  leave  the  blissful  abode : — 

"  Oh  unexpected  stroke,  worse  than  of  death  ! 
Must  I  thus  leave  (hce,  Paradise!  thus  leave 
Thee,  native  soil  !     Thcxc  happy  walks  and  shades, 
Fit  haunt  of  g(i<ls,  where  I  had  iiope  to  spend. 
Quiet,  thoufjh  sad,  the  respite  of  that  day 
That  must  be  mortal  to  us  both.     O  Mowers  ! 

*  Though  foreign  to  the  immediate  purpose,  it  would  be  diffi- 
rult  to  pass  unnoticed  the;  j)rofound  uulanLholy  cxjjressed  by  the 
very  const nution  of  this  concluding  line — 

"  To  live  in  these  wild  woods  forlorn." 

.Milman.  in  the  "Fall  of  .Terusalem."  uses  a  similar  construction 
of  the  verse,  and  one  etpially  true  to  nature. 

"  lUcsM  thee  !  but  we  may  meet  again,  e\n  here. 
Thou  look'st  consent,  I  see  it  through  thy  tears. 
Yet,  once  again,  that  mid,  sad  hyov/— farewell." 


REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT.  209 

That  never  will  in  other  climate  grow, 

My  early  visitation,  and  my  last 

At  e'en,  which  I  bred  up  with  tender  hand, 

From  the  first  opening  bud,  and  gave  yc  names  ; 

AVho  now  shall  rear  ye  to  the  sun,  or  rank 

Your  tribes,  or  water  from  the  ambrosial  font  ? 

Tiiee.  lastly,  nuptial  bower,  by  me  adorn'd 

"With  what  to  sight  or  smell  was  sweet,  from  tliea 

How  shall  I  part,  and  whither  wander  down 

Into  a  lower  world,  to  this  obscure, 

And  wild  ?  how  shall  we  breathe  in  other  air, 

Less  pure,  accustomed  to  immortal  fruit  ?" 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  xi. 

The  language  of  Adam  on  the  prospect  of  leaving 
Paradise,  and  of  being  deprived  of  the  visible  and 
immediate  communion  with  God,  is  of  the  same  cha- 
racter : — 

"  Here  I  would  frequent 
With  worship  place  by  place,  when  he  vouchsafed 
Presence  divine,  and  to  my  woes  relate — 
On  this  mount  he  appeared,  under  this  tree 
Stood  visible — among  these  pines  his  voice 
I  heard ;  here,  with  him,  at  this  fountain  talk'd." 

Ihid.  b.  xi. 

Unquestionably  this  is  the  language  of  strong  feeling 
and  personal  attachment  to  a  beloved  object.  The 
repetition  of  the  pronoun  exhibits  the  mind  as  impa- 
tient of  interruption,  and  falling  back  again  and  again 
upon  that  object,  at  one  moment  collectively,  at  another 
individually,  and  dwelling  with  a  lingering  fondness  on 
each  of  its  separate  parts. 

Corresponding  with  this  principle,  is  the  following 
passage  from  the  "Noctes  Ambrosianai :" — 

"  Nae  thou't  so  unsupportable  as  that  o'  entire,  blank  forgets 

18* 


210  REPETITIOX  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT. 

fulness When  she,  the  crctur  that  once  laucht,  and  sang, 

and  wept  to  us,  close  to  our  side,  or  in  our  varra  arms,  is  as  if 
her  smiles,  her  voice,  her  tears,  her  kisses  had  never  been." 

Every  touch  of  this  passage  points  directly  to   the 
heart. 

So  also  ^^ilInan.  On  the  night  in  which  Jerusalem 
was  taken,  Salone  had  been  married  to  Amariah.  Her 
sister  Mariam,  when  the  city  was  in  flames,  goes  to  seek 
her,  and  finds  that  Amariah  had  stabbed  her,  in  order 
to  prevent  her  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy; 
Salone  is  dying,  and  her  intellects  are  wandering.  She 
tells  the  following  tale: — 

"  lie  came  back,  and  kiss'd  me,  and  he  said, 
I  know  not  what  he  said — but  there  was  something 
Of  Gentile  ravishcr,  and  his  boanloims  bride. 
Aff.me,  he  meant,  he  called  v/ie  beauteous  Ijride, 
And  he  stood  o'er  me  with  a  sword  so  Ijright, 
My  dazzled  eyes  did  close.     And  presently 
Mclhou^'-ht  he  smote  me  with  the  sword — but  then 
He  fell  ujion  my  neck,  and  wejit  ujion  me, 
And  1  fell  nothing  but  his  burning  kisses." 

]'\ill  of  Jerusalem. 

This  passage  owes  its  beauty  to  the  strange  bcwil.lor- 
ment  and  the  inten.se  personality  that  pervade  it.  'J'he 
pronoun,  personal  or  pos.se.ssivc,  is  Iwcnhj-lico  times  re- 
I)eated  in  eight  lines  and  a  half. 

Affectionate  Entreaty. 

Hector  feels  himself  called  to  the  field  of  battle  by 
lionor,  duty,  and  the  cause  of  his  country,  though  at 
the  same  time  with  a  firm  conviction  lliat  there  lie  nju.st 


REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT.  211 

perish.     Hecuba,  with  earnest  prayer  and  maternal  ten- 
derness, beseeches  him  to  remain  within  the  walls : — 

'^Her  zone  unbraced,  her  bosom  s7ie  display'd, 
And  thus,  fast  falling  the  salt  tears,  she  said, 
Have  mercy  on  me!  0  my  son ! 
If  ever  thee  in  these  fond  arms  I  press'd. 
Or  still'd  thy  infant  clamors  at  this  Ijreast, 
Ah,  do  not  thus  our  helpless  years  forego. 
But  by  our  walls  secured  repel  the  foe." 

Pope,  Iliad,  h.  xxii. 

So  also  Priam  : — 

"  Then  wept  the  sage ; 
ITe  strikes  his  reverend  head,  now  white  with  age, 
He  lifts  his  wither'd  arras — obtests  the  skies, 
He  calls  his  much-lov'd  son,  with  feeble  cries. 
'  Ah,  stay  not,  stay  not  guardless  and  alone, 
Hector,  my  lov'd,  my  dearest,  bravest  son  ! 
Mcthinks  already  I  behold  thee  slain, 
And  strctch'd  beneath  that  fury  of  the  plain.'  " 

Ibid.  b.  xxii. 


Intense  Personal  Haired. 

"  A  plague  upon  them,  wherefore  should  I  curse  them  ? 
Would  curses  kill,  as  doth  the  mandrake's  groan, 
I  could  invent  as  bitter,  searching  terms. 
As  curs'd  and  harsh,  and  horrible  to  hear, 
Pcliver'd  strongly  through  ray  fixed  teeth, 
"With  full  as  many  signs  of  deadly  hate, 
As  lean-fac'd  Envy  in  her  deadly  cave. 
My  tongue  shall  stumble  in  mine  earnest  words, 
Mine  eyes  should  sparkle,  like  the  beaten  (lint. 
My  hair  be  fix'd  on  end,  as  one  distract. 
Ay,  every  joint  should  seem  to  curse  and  ban. 
And  even  now,  ray  burden'd  heart  would  break, 
Should  T  not  curse  thom —  poison  be  their  drink, 


212  REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT. 

Gall — worse  than  gall,  the  dainties  that  Ihcy  taste  ! 
Their  sweetest  shade — a  grove  of  cypress  trees  ! 
Tluir  chiefcst  prospect — murdering  basilisks  ! 
Their  softest  touch — as  smart  as  lizards'  stings  1 
Their  music — frightful  as  the  serpent's  hiss ! 
And  boding  screech-owls  make  the  concert  full ! 
All  the  foul  terrors  of  dark-seated  hell !" 

SuAKSPEAUR,  Henry  VI. 

In  this  passage  hatred,  withering,  scorching,  burning, 
pursues  like  a  stanch  bloodhound,  and  never  quits  the 
personal  order  of  its  object. 


ContemptiLOUs  Indignation. 

"  Thou  licst,  thou  thread,  thou  thimble, 
Thou  yard,  thrco-quarters,  half-yard,  (juartor,  nail, 
Thou  flea,  thou  nit,  thou  winter-cricket — thou." 

Taming  of  a  Slircw,  act  4,  so.  2. 

See  the  life  and  energy  given  to  a  contest  by  the 
repetition  of  the  pronoun. 

"As  on  the  confines  of  adjoining  ground, 
Two  stubborn  swains  with  blows  dispute  the  ground, 
They  tug,  they  sweat,  but  neither  gain  nor  yield 
Oni;  foot,  one  inch  of  the  contested  fiuM. 
'i'liiis  obstinate  to  death,  thiy  fight,  thry  fall, 
Nor  these  can  keep,  nor  thost;  can  win  the  wall." 

Poi'K,  Iliad. 

It  is  questionable  whether  any  modern  fraternal 
appeal  can  equal  that  of  young  Harry  to  his  comrades 
on  the  field  of  battle;  and  yet  the  most  powerful  instru- 
ment in  that  appeal  is  simply  the  personal  pronoun  tve. 
It  combines  and  condenses  the  destinies  of  all  into  one 
firm  and  indis-solublc  mass.    'J'hc  meanest  soldier,  in  life 


REPETITION  OF  PRONOUN — ITS  EFFECT.  213 

or  death,  shares  in  the  glory,  or  mingles  his  blood  with 
that  of  his  indomitable  chief: — 

"  This  story  shall  the  good  man  teach  his  son, 
And  Crispin  Crispian  shall  ne'er  go  by, 
From  this  day,  to  the  ending  of  the  world, 
But  toe,  in  it,  shall  be  remembered. 
TTe  few — tve  happy  few — we  band  of  brothers  ! 
For  he  to-day  that  sheds  his  blood  with  me, 
Shall  be  my  brother ;  be  he  ne'er  so  vile. 
This  day  shall  gentle  his  condition." 

Shakspeare,  Henry  V. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  examples  of  a  similar 
kind.  In  reading  such  passages,  a  deep  interest  and 
sympathy  are  excited;  and,  if  we  investigate  the  ground 
of  this  feeling,  we  shall  find  that  it  mainly  consists  in 
the  frequent  recurrence  of  their  ijersonallty.  Dry,  ab- 
stract reasoning  may  convince  the  understanding,  but 
it  is  feeble  in  exciting  human  sympathies  and  affections. 
It  is  just  so  in  the  practical  scenes  of  life.  The  dumb 
appeal  of  the  wounded,  helpless  traveller,  laid  by  the 
road  side,  is  far  more  eloquent  than  the  most  forcible 
exhortation  to  relieve  the  distressed.  It  is  personality, 
whether  in  real  or  descriptive  life,  that  makes  its  way 
to  the  heart,  and  it  is  to  this  principle,  properly  applied, 
that  many  of  the  finest  passages,  whether  of  poetry  or 
of  prose,  owe  their  energy,  or  tenderness — their  power 
of  exciting  the  deepest  sympathies  of  our  nature. 


214  ANGLO-SAXON  ARTICLE. 


SECTION  IV. 

ARTICLE. 

CnAPTER   I. 

ANGLO-SAXON  ARTICLE. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  a??,  a^c??,  am,  was  seldom  used  as  an 
indefinite  article.  It  had  the  signification  of  the  Latin 
U71US,  one.  Where  an  indefinite  signification  was  re- 
quired, no  article  was  prefixed,  and  the  sentence  followed 
the  Latin  construction;  as,  "  Deodric  was  Cristen," 
Thcodoricus  fuit  Christianus.  Thcodoric  was  a  Chris- 
tian ;  as  we  should  now  express  it.  This  particle, 
originally  the  numeral  one,  became  the  indefinite  article 
a  or  an,  with  no  other  variation. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  definite  article  passed  through 
several  inflexions,  all  which  have  been  discarded.  It 
liad  four  cases  in  the  singular  number,  and  was  inflected 
in  the  masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter  gender  of  the 
nominative  and  accusative  cases.  It  had  four  cases  in  the 
l)lural  number,  the  accusative,  in  form,  however,  being 
the  same  as  the  nominative.  In  the^  jilural  number, 
there  was  no  variation  of  gender.  Tiie  present  English 
definite  article  lias  no  variation  in  number,  case,  or 
gender.  If  any  error,  therefore,  should  ever  occur  in 
the  use  of  the  definite  article,  it  must  be  an  error  of 
application,  not  of  form. 


DISTINCTION  OF  ARTICLES.  215 

CHAPTEE   II. 

DISTINCTION  OF  ARTICLES. 

The  indefinite  article  a,  before  a  word  beginning  with 
a  consonant,  and  an  before  a  word  beginning  with  a 
vowel  or  h  mute,  is  applied  to  anything  not  before 
mentioned  or  known.  When  no  article  at  all  is  used, 
the  sense  is  still  less  definite.  The  following  sentences 
from  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis  introduce  the  dif- 
ferent applications  of  the  indefinite  and  the  definite 
article,  and  also  illustrate  the  principle  upon  which  the 
absence  of  the  article  is  founded. 

"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  tlie  dust  of  tlie  earth." 

Man  not  having  previously  existed. 

"  Therefore  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother." 

Any  man  at  any  future  time. 

"  And  the  Lord  planted  a  garden  eastward,  in  Eden,  and  there 
he  put  the  man  (before  mentioned)  whom  he  had  formed." 

"  And  the  Lord  God  said,  it  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be 
alone  ;  I  will  make  him  an  help-meet." 

These  sentences  exemplify  the  use  of  the  present 
English  article,  whether  definite  or  indefinite,  whilst 
the  absence  of  the  article  altogether  before  th6  term 
man  denotes  species  at  large. 

"Which  in  time  past  were  not  a  people,  but  arc  now^/jc  people 
of  God." 

Ilere,  also,  we  have  a  marked  distinction  between  the 
indefinite  and  the  definite  article. 


216  DISTINCTIOX  OF  ARTICLES. 

If  Pilate  had  said,  "  Behold  a  man,"  the  observation 
would  not  have  had  cither  point  or  specific  application. 
If  Peter  had  said,  "  I  know  not  a  man,''  instead  of  the 
man,  the  observation  would  have  been  ftilse,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  not  merely  as  a  matter  of  distinct  appli- 
cation. If  it  had  been  stated,  that  any  two  sides  of  a 
triangle  are  greater  than  a  third  side,  the  position  might 
have  been  either  true  or  false,  but  not  necessarily  either; 
a  third  side  would  allow  us  to  fix  upon  sovie  other  tri- 
angle, and  so  to  compare  two  sides  of  o»e  triangle  with 
one  side  o^  another  triangle.  But,  when  it  is  stated  that 
any  two  sides  of  a  triangle  are  greater  than  the  third  side, 
the  position  is  confined  to  tlic  third  or  remaining  side  of 
the  triangle  in  question,  and  is  either  necessarily  true, 
or  necessarily  false. 
Again : — 

"In  every  parallelogram  any  of  the  paralli-Iograms  about  a 
diameter,  together  with  the  two  complements,  is  calleil  a  gnomon." 
— iiivipson's  Euclid,  /)</.  '2,  b.  ii. 

If  the  expression  a  diameter  had  been  ^//e  diameter,  the 
position  would  have  assumed  that  a  parallelogram  could 
have  one  diameter  only. 

By  the  proper  use  of  the  articles  in  the  English 
language,  wc  obviously  gain  great  prccisionof  meaning, 
and  such  as  is  not  attainable  in  Latin.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  this,  let  us  take  the  phrase  "Amicus  Impera- 
toris"  propounded  by  Mr.  (Jrant,  which  in  Latin  is 
susceptible  of  four  diflbrcnt  significations,  compressed 
and  undistinguished.  Now  in  English  each  signification 
would  be  perfectly  defined,  as  "a  friend  of  an  emperor, 
the  friend  of  «u  emperor,  a  friend  of  the  emperor,  the 
friend  of^  the  emperor.'' 


DISTINCTION  OF  ARTICLES.  217 

So,  also,  in  the  "  Fas  odisse  f  ^Vos"  of  Virgil,  and 

"  Obstupuit  primu  aspectu  Sidonia  Dido 
Casu  dcindc  viri  tanto," 

we  feel  the  want  of  definition. 

The  following  passage  will  show  how  frequently  the 
definite  article  may  enter  into  the  composition  of  a 
single  sentence,  and  that  necessarily. 

"  But  wlien  the  military  order  had  levelled,  in  wild  anarchy, 
the  power  of  the  prince,  the  laws  of  the  senate,  and  even  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  camp,  the  barbarians  of  the  North,  and  of  the  East, 
who  had  long  hovered  on  the  frontier,  boldly  attacked  the  pro- 
vinces of  a  declining  monarchy." — Gibbon's  Decline,  c.  viii. 

Here  the  definite  article  occurs  eleven  times,  and  the 
indefinite  once. 
Again: — 


■•o^ 


"  'Tis  not  the  balm,  the  sceptre,  and  the  ball. 
The  sword,  the  mace,  the  crown  impei-ial. 
The  enter-tissued  robe  of  gold  and  pearl, 
The  farced  title  running  'fore  the  king. 
The  throne  he  sits  on.  nor  the  tide  of  pomp, 
That  beats  upon  the  high  shore  of  this  world. 
No !"  Shakspeare. 

Here,  again,  the  indefinite  article  occurs  twelve  times 
in  six  lines.  The  distinct  properties  and  the  correct 
application  of  the  English  articles  become,  therefore,  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  moment. 


19 


218      ENGLISH  AND  GREEK  ARTICLES  COMPARED. 

CHAPTER  III. 

ENGLISH  ARTICLE  COMPARED  WITH  THE  GREEK  ARTICLE. 

The  English  definito  article,  in  its  general  use,  cor- 
responds with  the  Greek  article ;  but  every  language 
has  its  own  peculiar  idioms,  which  refuse  to  bend  to 
any  foreign  authority.  Thus,  the  Greeks  used  the 
definite  article  before  abstract  nouns ;  as,  ij  clp«t^,  ij  xaxi'a, 
virtue,  vice.  If  we  prefix  the  article  in  English,  we 
confine  the  terms  to  some  particular  virtue  and  vice 
already  specified,  or  to  be  specified.  The  French,  in 
this  respect,  follow  the  Greek  form ;  as,  la  vertu,  lo 
vice. 

Again,  the  Greeks  used  the  definite  article  before  a 
proper  name  in  the  singular  number;  as,  o  Swxpatjjj, 
Socrates,  whereas  in  English  we  use  it  only  before  the 
plural  of  proper  names ;  as,  "  the  Johnsons,"  "  the 
Addisons,"  except  in  a  case  of  marked  distinction,  such 
as  can  seldom  occur: — 

"Go  to  thv  l)oiifrla3,  and  deliver  him 
Up  to  his  pleasure,  ransomless  and  free." 

SlIAK.SrKAKK. 

"  I  do  uo  iujusticc  to  the  Red  Rover,  when  I  say  he  is  too 

slif(ht  to  he  weighed  with  the  Douglas." — Scott,  Chronicles  of 
Cannonfjate. 

We  have  also  a  peculiar  use  of  the  indefinite  article, 
as  applied  to  nouns  of  the  singular  number. 

"Friiin  lilierty  eaili  lujlder  seieiire  sprMMfr, 
A  Hacoo  brighlcued,  aud  a  Speu-ser  sung." 

.Sava(!k'8  Kpisllc  to  W'alpok. 


IRREGULAR  USE  OF  THE  DEFINITE  ARTICLE.       219 

CHAPTER    IV. 

IRREGULAR  USE  OF  THE  DEFINITE  ARTICLE. 

A  VARIETY  of  examples,  both  in  Scripture  and  in 
some  writers  of  the  same  and  even  of  later  date,  sanc- 
tion the  use  of  the  definite  article  before  the  word  death 
when  that  term  has  nothing  more  than  a  general  signi- 
fication, and  when  no  reference  is  made  to  any  particu- 
lar form  of  death;  thus: — 

"Jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the  death. " — Judges  v.  10. 
"  Let  him  die  the  death. " — Matt.  xv.  4. 

"  Bear  Worcester  to  the  death.  "  Shakspeare. 

"  True  to  the  death.  "  Cowper's  Task. 

"  It  shall  not  save  him  from  the  death.  "  Byrox. 

Nor  is  this  form  of  expression  confined  to  the  phrase 
"/Ae  death."  The  article  is,  on  some  other  occasion.^, 
placed  before  the  noun  in  a  manner  not  recognized  by 
modern  custom ;  as, 

"  They  lie  in  the  hell  like  sheep." — Psalms. 

As  hell  is,  however,  probably  derived  from  Ilalla  or 
Walhalla,  the  phrase  may  be  accepted  as  signifying  the 
abode  of  the  dead.     They  lie  in  the  place  of  the  dead. 

"  0  that  the  salvation  were  given  unto  Israel.'' — Psalms. 

Phrases  of  this  description  seem  to  be  founded  upon 
Greek  rather  than  English  construction,  Tlicy  are 
certainly  inconsistent  with  our  modern  idiom. 


220  EXGLISH  AND  GERMAN 

The  use  of  tlie  definite  article  before  the  relative 
which  has  now  become  obsolete. 

"  ■\Vlicre  there  was  a  garden,  into  ihtj  which  he  cntcrcil." — 
John  xviii.  1. 

We  have  also  an  anomalous  use  of  the  article  before 
adjectives,  or  rather  adverbs  of  the  comparative  and 
superlative  degree:  as,  "I  like  this  the  better;"  "I 
like  this  the  best."  If,  in  such  cases,  we  leave  out  the 
article,  and  take  Idler  and  lest  adverbially,  there  is  no 
difTiculty.  "I  like  A.  well,  B.  better,  but  C.  best." 
Must  we  then  treat  the  phrases  the  letter  and  the  lest 
as  stifl-necked  vulgarisms,  rendered  intractable;  or 
must  we  look  upon  them  as  elliptical  expressions  used 
in  the  place  of  in  the  lest  waij^  in  the  lest  manner? 

Again,  what  can  we  make  of  the  phrase  "I  saw  him 
the  other  day?"  meaning  a  short  time  ago;  the  definite 
the,  in  the  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  becoming  the 
indefinite  a;  I  saw  him  tlie  oilier  day,  that  is,  a  short 
time  ago. 


CllA  PTKli  V. 

KNGLISII  AHTICLE  CCMPAKKD  WITH  THE  GERMAN 

ARTICLE. 

Jx  German,  the  article  is  rejieatcd  before  nouns  of 
dilVcrent  genders:  as,  'Uler  lattr,  die  mutt'-r,  und  da.s 
hind;'"  the  father,  the  mother,  and  the  child.  When 
nouns  are  of  the  .same  gender  and  number,  the  article 
is  required  before  the  first  only,  as  "c/er  rock  undhiU,'^ 
the  coat  and  hat. 


ARTICLES  COMPARED.  221 

As  tlie  English  article  has  no  inflexion,  but  is  used 
under  the  same  form  to  signify  masculine,  feminine,  or 
neuter,  it  might  be  argued  that,  on  this  principle,  it  is 
necessary  to  place  the  article  before  the  first  of  a  series 
of  nouns  onhj^  as  "the  men,  women,  and  baggage."  It 
is  not,  however,  a  proper  view  of  the  English  definite 
article  to  suppose  that  it  is  masculine,  feminine,  and 
neuter  at  the  same  time.  The  English  article  is  mas- 
culine when  applied  to  a  masculine  noun,  feminine 
when  applied  to  a  feminine  noun,  and  neuter  when 
applied  to  a  neuter  noun.  Its  want  of  inflexion  is  a 
mere  matter  of  form  ;  and  the  same  article  which  is 
applied  to  a  masculine  noun,  and  therefore  of  itself 
masculine,  cannot  at  the  same  time  be  applied  to  a 
feminine  noun,  and  be  at  the  same  time  feminine.  It 
cannot  be  two  different  things  at  the  same  time;  and 
the  repetition  of  the  article  in  English,  when  applied  to 
objects  differing  in  gender,  number,  or  condition,  is  just 
as  necessary  for  the  sake  of  definite  meaning  as  the 
German  article  would  be  in  German  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. The  English  adjective  has  no  inflexion 
as  to  gender,  number,  or  case;  yet  in  the  phrase  a  tall 
man  it  is  masculine,  in  a  tall  icoman  it  is  feminine,  and 
in  a  tall  tree  it  is  neuter.  In  signification  as  to  gender 
and  number,  it  is  just  as  mutable  as  alt?/5,  alta,  altw?72-, 
though  its  form  may  not  be  altered.  So  also  in  the 
verb,  we  say,  I  love,  thou  lovest,  he  loves ;  yet  we  say, 
we  hve,  ye  love,  they  love,  so  that  the  same  form,  love,  is 
first  person  singular,  first,  second,  and  third  persons 
plural;  yet  the  invariable  form  of  the  verb  in  the 
plural  number  expresses  the  meaning  just  as  well  as  its 

19* 


222  ENGLISH  AXD  GERMAN 

variable  form   in   the  singular  number — I  love,  thou 
lovesl,  he  loves;  we  fore,  ye  love,  they  love. 

In  the  case  of  the  article,  its  immutable  form  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  question.  The  question  is,  can 
that  -which  is  masculine  define  that  which  is  feminine, 
and  that  which  is  neuter,  all  at  the  same  time;  or,  that 
which  is  singular,  and  that  which  is  plural,  at  the  same 
time?  Logically  and  grammatically,  it  cannot,  what- 
ever custom,  or  negligence,  or  ignorance,  may  sanction 
to  the  contrary.  Tbe  Greek  and  German  articles  have 
their  fixed  principles;  but  scores  of  passages  might  bo 
adduced  from  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament,  in 
English,  in  which  the  sense  is  essentially  changed  by 
the  omission  of  tlie  definite  article,  where  that  article  is 
clearly  and  distinctly  applied  in  the  original  for  the 
express  purpose  of  definition.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to 
propound  phrases  in  the  English  language,  which  cus- 
tom has  sanctioned  and  which  militate  against  this 
))rinciple;  but,  on  examination,  we  shall  find  such 
examjiles  cither  obviously  unjustifiable,  and  dependent 
solely  on  the  tyranny  of  custom  and  the  tenacity  of 
error,  or  upon  some  peculiar  modification  generally 
overlooked.  Exami)los  of  the  former  kind  are  pain- 
fully numerous.  Of  the  latter,  take  such  an  example 
as  the  following:  "/  met  a  man  and  Itorscr  Now  it  is 
80  customary  for  man  and  horse  to  bo  associated,  that 
we  look  upon  them  as  forming  a  compound  animal — a 
kind  of  Centaur.  But  who  would  think  of  saying,  "I 
met  a  man  and  crocodile,"  or,  "a  woman  and  Ornitho- 
rliynchus  paradoxus!"  The  association  is  very  impro- 
bable, and  requires  distinct  specification — a  man  ami 


ARTICLES  COMPARED.  223 

a  crocodile,  a  woman  and  an  Ornithorbynchus  para- 
doxus. But  if  we  speak  of  a  man  as  well  known — as 
having  made  himself  notorious  by  his  exhibition  of  a 
crocodile,  and  both  are  conjointly  celebrated,  we  then 
say,  ^^ Have  you  seen  the  man  and  crocodile  f  for  there  is 
in  this  case  a  logical  association  of  objects,  in  fact,  a 
unity.  To  pass  to  the  definite  article,  to  the  question, 
^^  Have  you  seen  the  man  and  crocodile?^''  It  might  be 
answered,  "  There  are  several  men  exhibiting  crocodiles" 
I  answer,  "So  there  may;  but  the  others  are  not  worth 
looking  at,  I  niean  the  man  and  the  crocodile,"  em- 
phatically and  eontradistinctively.  The  justice  of  these 
distinctions  will,  I  think,  be  acknowledged ;  yet  they 
are  not  the  more  necessary  here  than  they  are  in  a 
thousand  instances  in  which  they  are  neglected.  A 
grammatical  principle  is  either  right  or  not  right;  it 
cannot  be  right  by  halves. 

We  say,  "  /  saiu  the  father  and  mother  of  the  child," 
because  we  recognize  parental  association  in  the  phrase ; 
but  I  cannot  with  the  same  propriety  say,  "  /  saw  the 
General  and  Adjutant"  because  there  is  no  association 
of  office.  I  speak  of  two  distinct  persons,  and  two  dis- 
tinct conditions,  and  I  ought  to  say,  ^^  I  saw  the  Gene- 
ral and  the  Adjutant."  On  what  principle,  then,  do  we 
say,  The  Pharisees,  and  scribes,  and  chief  officers,  each 
class  being  distinct?  We  do  it  in  direct  violation  of 
principle. 

The  same  rule  is  applicable  to  adjectives.  When 
two  epithets  involving  distinct  and  incompatible  pro- 
perties are  applied  to  a  noun,  the  definite  article,  where 
used  before  the  first,  must  be  repeated  before  the 
second;  as,  "  The  Lords  Spiritual  and  Tenqwral."     As 


224  THE  DEI-'INITIC  AlITICLK 

the  Spiritual  Lonls  arc  not  Temporal  Lonb,  nor  the 
Temporal  Lords  Spiritual  Lonls,  they  ought  to  be  dis- 
tinguished, and  not  combined  as  a  unity.  The  Spirit- 
ual and  /Ae  Temporal  Lords,  or  the  Spiritual  Lords  and 
l/ie  Temporal. 


CnAPTKK    VI. 

THE  DEFINITE  ARTICLE  IMPROrEKLY  OMITTED. 

''lIowBEiT,  when  the  Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  yon 
into  all  truth." 

The  passage  should  have  run  all  the  truth,  that  is,  the 
truth  as  far  as  it  respected  the  Christian  religion,  and 
so  it  is  expressed  in  the  original  Greek,  nj  rtdaav  ri^v 
dxr,Onav,  into  all  the  truth.  We  cannot  suppose  that 
Jesus  meant  that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  lead  the  disci- 
ples into  the  knowledge  of  all  truth,  scientific,  <Sce.  &c. 
As  well  might  the  33d  verse  of  the  5th  chapter  of  St. 
^^ark  be  translated  iu  the  same  way,  all  truth,  instead 
of  all  the  truth. 

'•  l>ut  the  woman,  foiirinL,'  ami  Irrnililing,  and  knowing:  whaf 
was  done  in  her,  came,  and  fell  down  ln'foro  him,  and  told  him 
all  truth." 

Tiic  pa.ssagc  is  properly  tran.slatcd,  all  the  truth. 

•  TiiMU  art  my  hclovod  son."     2v  tl  d  uof  juov  o  dya?tj;roj. 

Which  docs  not  mean  "thou  art  my  behaved  son,"  but 
"  thou  art  my  son,  the  beloved."     The  article,  which 


IMPROPERLY  OMITTED.  225 

is  here  so  emphatic  in  the  Greek,  is  lost  sight  of  in  our 
translation.  In  the  Latin,  the  sense  is  preserved  by 
the  substitution  of  the  demonstrative  and  personal  pro- 
noun ille^  the  Latin  having  no  article.  "Tu  es  filius 
meus,  ille  dilectus."  But  the  6  dyart^jtoj,  the  "  ille  di- 
lectus"  is  not  expressed  in  the  English  version.  Nor 
does  "I  am  the  good  shepherd"  come  up  to  t'yw  £i>i  o 

"  When  the  morning  was  come,  all  the  chief  priests,  and  elders 
of  the  people,  took  counsel  against  Jesus  to  put  him  to  death." 

In  cases  of  this  kind,  attention  to  the  original  text, 
in  the  use  of  the  article,  would  keep  us  from  error.  In 
the  Greek,  we  have  ot  rtpcaevtipoi,  and  in  the  English  we 
ought  to  have  had  the  elders.  The  term  elders,  in  this 
passage,  without  having  the  definite  article  prefixed,  ac- 
cording to  the  plainest  idiom  of  our  language,  has  a 
very  different  meaning  from  that  which  it  is  here  in- 
tended to  convey ;  for,  if  we  say  that  elders  of  the  people 
took  counsel,  we  mean  that  certain  elders,  or  some  elders, 
took  counsel,  which  might  be  five  out  of  five  hundred; 
but  when  we  say  the  elders,  we  mean  the  elders  as  a 
body,  a  class,  and  this  is  the  meaning  required  ;  ol 
TtpsaSvtcpoi,. 

"  When,  therefore,  the  chief  priests  and  oflBcers  saw  him,"  &c. 

Though  the  term  chief  is  applied  to  priests,  it  is  not 
intended  that  it  should  apply  to  oflicers ;  nor  is  there  a 
mutual  community  of  signification  between  the  terms 
"  priests  and  officers."  The  definite  article  ought, 
therefore,  to   have   been   repeated :   ot  apxtipdi,  xai  ol 

VTtlJpital. 


226  THE  DEFINITE  ARTICLE 

"  When  the  morning  was  conic,  all  the  chief  priests  and 
ciders,"  &c. 

Priests  and  ciders  being  distinct,  tlie  article  ought  to 
have  been  repeated  before  the  latter,  according  to  the 
original.  Elsewhere,  we  have  the  chief  priests  and  the 
scribes. 

"And  thoy  contimiod  stcdfastly  in  tlic  apostles' doctrine  and 
fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers." — Adsii.  i'l. 

A  strange  inaccuracy  and  carelessness  characterize 
the  whole  of  this  passage.  In  the  first  place,  there 
is  an  ambiguity  in  the  soimd  of  the  apostles'  doc- 
trine, which  might  mean  the  doctrine  of  one  particular 
apostle,  or  of  all  the  apostles.  This  might  have  been 
avoided  by  saying  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles.  Se- 
condly, there  is  a  grammatical  error  in  tlie  phrase,  in 
breaking  of  bread.  Tliirdly,  there  is  a  total  perversion 
of  the  meaning  in  the  omission  of  tlie  definite  article 
before  /ellowshtp,  before  IreaJcing,  before  bread,  and 
hcfore  2^r(i^crs ;  for  the  definite  article  is  used  before 
each  of  these  terms  in  the  original,  and  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  pas.sage, 
cither  in  Greek  or  English.  The  whole  passage,  trans- 
lated according  to  the  original,  would  run  tlius: — 

"  And  they  continued  stcdfastly  in  the  doctrine  and  the  fel- 
hiwship  of  the  apostles,  ami  in  llir  lircakinj,'  of////'  l)read  and  in 
tlic  prayers." 

Now,  as  we  understand  the  doctrine  and  the  fellow- 
sliip  of  the  apostles  to  be  a  specific  doctrine,  and  a 
specific  fellow.ship;  and,  as  the  act  of  breaking  this 
bread  was  not  an  ordinary  act  of  brcalcing  bread,  but 


IMPROPERLY  OMITTED.  227 

the  act  of  breaking  bread  for  a  specific  purpose ;  and,  as 
the  bread  was  not  ordinary  bread,  to  be  used  as  food 
merely,  but  the  socm?ne?zi;a?  bread;  and  as  the  prayers 
were  not  accidental  prayers,  but  the  prayers  used  by 
tlie  Christian  converts -at  that  time,  and  so  expressed 
in  the  original,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  whole  passage 
is  lamentably  deficient  in  accuracy  of  expression. 

"  That  thy  power,  thy  glory,  and  mightiness  of  thy  kingdom 
might  be  known  unto  men." — Psalm  xiv.  12. 

The  mightiness. 

"  And  arc  choked  with  cares  and  riches  and  pleasures  of  this 
life." — Lulie  xviii.  14. 

The  cares — the  specific  cares  that  belong  to  this  life. 

We  should  .not  say,  "I  saw  beauty  of  his  face,"  "I 
admired  strength  of  his  arm,"  but  the  beauty,  the 
strength;  so  also  the  "mightiness  of  thy  kingdom," 
"  the  cares,"  &c. 

"  While  unfortunate  gloomy  Dust,  who  came  whipping  behind, 
was  cheered  by  the  encouragement  of  some,  and  pity  of  all." — 
Goldsmith's  Citizen  of  the  World. 

Both  grammar  and  euphony  require  the  pity. 

"Some  of  the  most  sacred  festivals  in  the  Roman  ritual  were 
destined  to  salute  the  new  calends  of  January  with  vows  of  pub- 
lic and  private  felicity,  to  indulge  the  pious  remembrance  of  the 
dead  and  living." — Gibbon's  Decline,  c.  xv. 

Though  the  dead  and  the  living  are  perfectly  distinct 
classes,  yet  here  is  an  operation  comprehending  both 
indiscriminately,  as  if  they  were  dead  and  alive  at  the 
same  time.  The  blind  and  lame  form  one  class  labor- 
iuGf  under  the  infirmities  of  blindness  and  lameness  ; 


228  DEnXlTE  ARTICLE  SUPERFLUOUS. 

the  blind  and  the  Lime  form  two  classes,  each  laborincr 
under  one  distinct  inGrniity:  so  the  living  form  one 
class,  and  the  dead  another ;  but  neither  class  can  be 
both  living  and  dead. 


CHAPTER   YII. 

THE    DEFINITE   ARTICLE   NOT  ONLY  SUPERFLUOUS,  BUT 

illSCUIEVOUS. 

"For  as  the  lightning  that  lightcncth  out  of  the  one  part 
under  heaven,  shineth  unto  (he  other  part  under  heaven." — Luke 
.xii.  24. 

If  there  had  been  only  two  parts  under  heaven,  then 
the  definite  article  would  have  been  required ;  but  as  the 
parts  arc  indefinite,  it  is  improper  to  limit  them  to  the 
one,  and  the  other,  as  if  there  were  but  two  parts  only. 

'•  liven  Tcrah,  the  father  of  Altrahuni.  and  \\\o  fathiM-  of  Nachor." 

As  Terah  was  the  father  of  Abraham,  and  the  father 
of  Nachor,  the  phrase  ought  to  have  been,  "the  father 
of  Abraham  and  of  Nachor ;"  otherwise,  some  other  per- 
son might  be  meant  as  the  father  of  Nachor. 

"There  are  few  words  in  the  Knglisli  hmgiiage  which  arc  cm- 
plo}X'd  in  a  more  louse  and  uucireumscribed  sense  than  tliose  of 
flic  fancy  and  Ihr  imagination." — Sjicrfu/itr. 

The  author  docs  not  here  mean  the  words  a/  (he  fancy 
and  the  imagination,  but  the  words y*a«cy  and  imaijiita- 
iion  them.sclvcs.  The  words  tJwse  of  (lie  are  worse  than 
superfluous. 

We  do  not  say  this  is  the  man  of  John,  but  this  is 


DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED.    229 

the  man  John.  Here  the  man  is  John,  and  John  is  the 
man ;  so  the  words  are  the  imarjinalion  and  the  fancy ^ 
and  the  imagination  and  the  fancy  are  the  words. 


CHAPTER   yill. 

THE  DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED. 

"And  he  stood  between  the  dead  and  the  living,  and  the 
plague  was  stayed." — Nunibers  xvi.  48. 

If,  in  this  passage,  we  strike  out  the  definite  article  be- 
fore the  term  living,  the  beauty  and  the  distinctness  of 
the  passage  are  destroyed.  Aaron  stood  between  the 
dead  on  one  side,  and  the  living  on  the  other.  Dead 
and  living  would  present  to  the  eye  nothing  but  an 
indiscriminate  mass,  where  a  marked  distinction  is 
peculiarly  necessary. 

In  the  Creed,  the  same  distinction  is  properly  ob- 
served:— 

"And  he  shall  come  again  with  glory,  to  judge  both  the  quick 
and  the  dead." 

Again,  ^[att.  v.  45,  the  same  form  of  expression   is 
correctly  introduced : — 

"For  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil,  and  on  the  good, 
and  sendcth  rain  on  </ie  just  and  on  the  unjust." 

^tv7  and  good,  just,  and  unjust,  are  so  totally  distinct, 
that  nothing  could  warrant  a  confusion  of  the  terms. 

"  The  Lord  hath  caused  the  solemn  feasts  and  Sabbaths  to  be 
20 


230        DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PKOrERLY  REPEATED. 

forprotten  in  Zion,  and  hath  despised,  in  the  iiulicrnalion  of  his 
aajror.  C/c  king  and^/ic  priest." — Jeremiah's  Lamentations  ii.  G. 

The  oiiiccs  of  Jcvifj  and  2^ri'est  being  distinct,  the  article 
is  properly  repeated. 

"  For  thoy  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  by  the  famine,  and  by  the 
pestilence." — Ezelcid  vi.  11. 

"How  much  more,  when  I  send  my  four  sore  judgments  upon 
Jerusalem,  the  sword,  and  the  famine,  and  the  noisome  beast, 
and  the  pestilence,  to  cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast." 

In  both  these  passages,  a  distinct  instrumentality  is 
here  properly  marked  by  the  repetition  of  the  definite 
article  before  each  noun.  As  a  matter  of  grammar,  tho 
principle  is  perfectly  just,  for,  when  there  is  no  com- 
munity of  meaning  in  a  sequence  of  nouns,  there  ought 
to  be  no  community  of  article;  at  the  same  time,  tho 
force  of  the  passage  is  wonderfully  increa.sed  by  tho 
repetition  of  the  article  and  the  conjunction  before  each 
noun.  The  agents  of  destruction  seem  multiplied,  and 
each  of  them  seems  to  labor  with  individual  energy  in 
the  work  of  death. 

"And  immodiatcly  while  yot  he  spake,  roincth  Judas,  one  of 
the  twelve,  and  with  him  a  great  multitude,  with  swurds  and 
staves,  from  the  chief  priests,  and  the  scribes,  and  the  elders." 

The  article  is  here  properly  repeated  before  tho  three 
last  nouns  of  this  sentence,  because  tlie  chief  priests, 
tlie  scribes,  and  tlie  elders  were  di.stinct  classes. 

"  From  the  reign  of  Augustus  to  the  time  of  Ah-xaiuler  Sevcrus, 
the  enemies  of  Home  were  iu  her  bosom  H"  tyrants,  :uiil  (hr 
soldiers." — Gibbon,  c.  viii. 

i.  c.  the  emperors  as  tyrants,  the  soldiers  as  mercenary 
and  tumultuous  instruments  of  tyranny,  both  parties 


DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED.         231 

acting  on  their  own  individual  impulses,  and  both,  too, 
often  the  enemies  of  Kome.  The  definite  article  was 
required  before  the  noun  soldiers,  because  they  were  a 
distinct  cause  of  tyranny. 

"  By  their  tumultuous  election,  a  Syrian,  a  Gotli,  or  an  Arab 
was  exalted  to  the  throne  of  Rome,  and  was  invested  with  des- 
potic power  over  the  conquests,  and  over  the  country  of  the  Sci- 
pios." — Gibbon,  c.  vii. 

If  the  definite  article  had  not  been  repeated  before  the 
noun  couniry^iho.  conquests  and  the  country  of  the  Sci- 
pios  would  have  been  identified;  whereas  the  conquests 
of  the  Scipios  were  not  their  country,  nor  their  country 
their  conquests. 

"  A  chorus  of  twenty-seven  youths,  and  as  many  virgins  of 
noble  families,  whose  parents  were  both  alive,  implored  the  pro- 
pitious gods  in  favor  of  the  present,  and  for  the  hope  of  the  ris- 
ing, generation ;  requesting  in  religious  hymns  that,  according 
to  the  faith  of  their  ancient  oracles,  they  would  still  maintain 
the  virtue,  the  felicity,  and  the  empire  of  the  Roman  people." — 
Gibbon,  c.  vii. 

Virtue,  felicity,  and  empire  are  all  distinct  objects, 
marked  as  such. 

"The  life  of  the  former  was  almost  a  perpetual  journey;  and 
as  he  possessed  the  various  talents  of  the  soldier,  the  statesman, 
and  the  scholar,  he  gratified  his  curiosity  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty." — Gibbon,  c.  i. 

Sentences  like  these  have  not  merely  the  merit  of 
grammatical  accuracy  in  the  use  of  the  article ;  they 
also  exhibit  a  refined  taste  in  the  construction  and  the 
harmony  of  a  sentence. 

"  From  the  beginning  of  the  world  an  uninterrupted  scries  of 
predictions  had  announced  and  prepared  the  long-expected  com- 


232         PEFIN'ITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED. 

ing  of  the  Messiah,  who  in  compliance  with  the  pross  apprehen- 
sions of  the  Jews,  had  been  more  frequently  represented  under 
the  character  of  a  king  and  conqueror,  than  under  that  of  a  pro- 
phet, a  martyr,  or  the  son  of  God," 

^^a^k  here  the  nice  discrimination  in  tlic  use  of  the 
definite  and  the  indefinite  article.  In  consequence  of 
the  near  alTinity  between  king  and  coyi'/ueror,  not  merely 
in  the  abstract,  but  more  particularly  with  reference  to 
the  expectations  of  the  Jews,  who  imagined  that  he 
would  come  in  the  character  of  both,  the  author  does 
not  repeat  the  article  before  conqueror ;  but  there  being 
no  afhnity,  either  absolute  or  relative,  between  prophet 
and  martyr,  the  article  is  properly  repeated  before  the 
term  martyr.  Again,  the  indefinite  article  is  properly 
changed  for  the  definite  before  the  words  son  of  God, 
indicating  that  he  was  the  sole  and  only  son  of  God, 
and  not  a  son  of  many  sons.  This  one  sentence  is,  in 
fact,  a  lecture  on  the  use  of  the  article. 


"I 


"  If  I  but  stretch  this  hand, 
I  heave  the  gods,  the  ocean,  and  the  land." 

Poi'k's  Iliad,  viii. 

All  the  objects  are  here  perfectly  distinct,  and  are  pro- 
j)erly  and  grammatically  marked  as  such,  by  tlie  repe- 
tition of  the  definite  article  before  each  of  them. 

"  For  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  1  should  bear  wit- 
ness unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth,  heard  li  my 
voice.     Pilate  saith  unto  him,  What  is  truth?" — Juhti  xviii. 

Chri.st  here  speaks  of  the  .specific  spiritual  truth  which 
he  came  to  cstabli.sh.  Pilate  not  seeing  the  drift  of 
our  Lord's  ob.survations,  .speaks  of  truth  generally;  the 
article  is  therefore  properly  prcfi.xed  to  the  noun  truth 


DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED.        233 

in  the  two  former  cases,  and  as  properly  omitted  in  the 
latter  case. 

"  His  purpose  was  to  infuse  literary  curiosity,  by  ccntle  and 
unsuspected  conveyance,  into  the  gay,  the  idle,  and  the  wealthy." 
— Johnson's  Life  of  Addison. 

"  Behold,  T  will  bring  them  from  the  north  country,  and  gather 
them  from  the  coasts  of  the  earth,  and  with  them  the  blind  and 
the  lame." — Jer.  sxxi.  8. 

If  the  definite  article  had  not  been  repeated  before 
the  term  lame^  one  class  of  persons  only  would  have 
been  designated,  and  that  class  both  blind  and  lame; 
whereas,  by  the  repetition  of  the  article  the  before  the 
term  lame^  two  distinct  classes  are  pointed  out — those 
that  were  blind  and  those  that  were  lame.  The  blind 
might  not  be  also  lame,  or  the  lame  blind. 

When,  however,  there  is  a  community  of  signification 
between  two  nouns  or  epithets,  there  is  no  impropriety 
in  leaving  out  the  definite  article;  as, 

"  Now  I  Paul  beseech  you  by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of 
Christ.  "—2  Cor.  x.  1. 

Meekness  and  gentleness  are  inseparably  connected, 
and  therefore  the  repetition  of  the  definite  article  before 
the  latter  was  not  required. 

"  Yea,  ?L  joyful  and  pleasant  thing  it  is  to  be  thankful. " 

The  epithets  have  a  necessary  connection.     Again  : — 

"  He  had  compassion  on  the  poor  and  needy. " 

Now  a  poor  man  being,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of 
the  terms,  a  needy  man,  and  a  needy  man  a  poor  man, 
the  definite  article  was  not  required. 

20* 


234    DEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED. 

"Blessed  be  the  man  that  provideth  for  the  sick  and  needy. " — 
Psahn  xii.  1. 

A  sick  man  is  not  necessarily  a  needy  man,  in  the 
usual  acceptation  of  the  term  nccihj^  nor  is  a  needy  man 
necessarily  a  sich  man.  The  benediction,  therefore,  only 
applies  to  those  who  provide  for  the  wants  of  such  as 
labor  under  the  combined  infirmities  of  sickness  and 
poverty.  Allowing  that  one  class  of  persons  only  is 
here  meant,  under  the  terms  sich  and  needy^  the  sen- 
tence is  right;  if  two,  it  is  wrong.  Suppose  I  say,  "he 
selected  all  the  black  and  white  cattle  for  himself,  and 
left  the  rest."  Grammatically,  this  sentence  means 
that  he  selected  those  individual  beasts  that  were  black 
and  white,  partly  black  and  partly  white.  But  place 
the  definite  article  before  white,  as  well  as  before  black, 
and  then  it  means  that  he  selected  all  the  black  cattle 
and  all  the  white  cattle,  and  left  the  rest;  which,  for 
anything  that  is  implied  to  the  contrary,  might  be  all 
black  and  white,  that  is,  combining  the  two  colors  of 
black  and  white. 

This  rule  depends  upon  the  obvious  principle  that  a 
particle,  applied  to  some  particular  word  to  define  and 
limit  its  signification,  cannot,  at  the  same  time,  have  a 
community  of  application  to  some  other  word,  when 
that  other  word  has  no  community  of  import  with  the 
word  to  which  that  particle  was  in  the  first  place  applied. 
Generally  in  this,  as  well  as  many  other  cases,  we  feel 
obliged  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  custom  ;  but  in  all  cases 
where  the  sen.se  is  manifestly  falsified  by  such  a  com- 
pliance, purely  we  are  justified  in  following  that  course 
which  grammar  and  sense  conjointly  demand. 


INDEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED.   235 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  INDEFINITE  ARTICLE  PROPERLY  REPEATED. 

"  A  COOL  head,  an  unfeeling  heart,  and  a  cowardly  disposition, 
prompted  him,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  to  assume  the  mask  of 
hypocrisy,  which  he  never  after  laid  aside." — Gibbon's  Decline, 
c.  iii. 

The  author's  object  in  repeating  the  article  before 
cool  head,  unfeeling  heart,  and  coivardhj  disposition  is 
to  mark  distinctly  the  three  properties  of  Augustus. 

"  As  they  prevailed  [curiosity  and  vanity] ,  and  as  they  were 
attracted  by  different  objects,  Hadrian  was,  by  turns,  an  excel- 
lent prince,  a  ridiculous  sophist,  and  a  jealous  tyrant." — Gibbon, 
c.  iii. 

The  indefinite  article  again  properly  repeated. 

"Just  balances,  just  weights,  a  just  ephah,  and  a  just  hia 
shall  ye  have." — Lev.  xix.  36. 

"  This  earth,  a  spot,  a  grain, 
An  atom."  Milton. 

The  repetition  of  the  article  marks  a  distinct  descent. 

These  examples  are  sufficient  to  show  the  propriety 
of  repeating  the  indefinite  article  where  the  things  or 
qualities  specified  are  in  themselves  distinct.  Yet 
Gibbon  occasionally  deviates  from  this  rule,  and  is  in- 
consistent with  himself. 


236      IN'DEFIXITE  ARTICLE  IMPROPERLY  OMITTED. 

CUAPTER   X. 

THE  INDEFINITE  ARTICLE  IMPROPERLY  OMITTED. 

"A  FEKBi.E  senate  and  enervated  people." — Gihhon  c.  iii. 
Again : — 

"  His  rise,  from  so  obscure  a  station,  to  the  first  dipnities  of  the 
empire,  seems  to  prove  that  he  was  a  bold  and  able  leader," — 
Decline,  c.  vii. 

A  leader  may  be  bold,  though  not  able.  Inconsiderate 
boldness  may  involve  a  leader  in  fatal  diflieulties.  In 
sueh  a  case,  he  could  not  be  characterized  as  an  able 
leader.  Callicratidas,  rather  than  sheer  o(Y,  fought  the 
Athenians  when  he  had  no  chance.  As  boldness  and 
ability  may  be  distinct  qualifications,  they  ought  to  be 
marked  as  such,  according  to  Gibbon's  usual  practice. 

'•  I>iil  the  great  triumi>hs  of  modern  infrenuityand  art  arc  those 
astronomical  clocks  and  watches  in  which  the  conntod  etpial  vi- 
brations of  a  pouhthim  or  baluntc-whccl  have  detected  periodi- 
cal ine(|ualities  even  in  the  motion  of  the  earth  itself." — ArnoU'a 
Physics,  ji.  CO. 

A  pendulum  is  not  a  balance-wheel ;  the  terms  arc  not 
convertible.  I  cannot  say  this  is  a  pendulum  or  balance- 
whcely  meaning  that  it  may  be  designated  by  cither 
term;  because  the  instruments  aredi.stinct — a  ])endulum 
or  a  balance-wheel  marks  the  distinction.  If  I  say  a 
pcnduhnn  or  lalauce-ichccl,  the  latter  member  of  the 
sentence  is  a  mere  exposition  or  definition  of  the  former. 
I  can  say  with  propriety,  "lie  was  a  Georgian  or  Cir- 
cassian,''^ "he  was  a  Xcrjro  or  Klliinjmn,^''  because  the 


CONFUSION  OF  AETICLES.  237 

individual  might  be  designated  by  either  term  ;  but  I 
cannot  with  propriety  say,  he  was  a  Negro  or  Laplander, 
but  a  Negro  or  a  Laplander,  the  former  phrase  marking 
community ;  the  latter,  distinction. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

CONFUSION  OF  ARTICLES. 

An  in  the  Place  of  The. 

"  AxD  the  contention  was  so  great  among  tlicm,  that  they 
departed  asunder,  one  from  another." — Acts  xv.  39. 

As  Paul  and  Barnabas  only  are  here  spoken  of,  they 
departed  one  from  the  other,  not  from  one  o??other;  the 
said  Paul  went  this  way,  and  the  said  Barnabas  that. 
When  we  say  they  departed  one  from  another,  we  at 
once  plunge  into  plurality ;  and  there  might  have  been 
five  hundred,  or  five  thousand  persons  departing  asun- 
der, one  from  another :  but  one  from  the  other,  or  the 
one  from  the  other,  would  limit  the  expression  to  the 
two  persons  previously  mentioned. 

"  Therefore  said  the  disciples  (the  disciples  being  many)  one 
to  another." — John  iv.  33. 

The  in  the  Place  of  A  or  An. 

Axr^Oui  &10V  vloi  rjv  ovtoj.     "  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God." 

The  centurion  was  a  heathen,  and  cither  believed,  or 
affected  to  believe,  in  a  plurality  of  gods — in  gods 
many;  and  therefore,  with  the  common  heathen  notion 


238  CONFUSION  OF  ARTICLES. 

of  the  existence  of  demigotls,  on  seeing  the  supernatural 
appearances  that  attended  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord, 
cxcKaims,  "  Truly,  this  was  a  son  of  a  god ;"  and  not, 
as  we  render  it,  "//te  Son  of  God;"  in  whicli  there  are 
two  errors — the  first  in  the  words  the  son,  which  expres- 
sion is  definite  and  emphatic,  when  it  ought  to  have 
been  indefinite  and  indilVerent;  the  second,  in  the  words 
"of  God,"  which  again,  according  to  our  idiom  and 
notion  of  the  unity  of  the  godhead,  is  definite;  when, 
according  to  the  real  words,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
centurion,  it  ought  to  have  been  indefinite,  the  word 
^fov  never  being  used  in  Scripture  witliout  the  article 
•rou  when  God,  the  God,  is  spoken  of.  In  this  case,  the 
article  is  wanting  before  ^lov.  Pilate,  as  a  heathen, 
believed  that  such  things  existed  as  men  descended  of 
gods,  and  he  expressed  himself  according  to  tliis  belief. 
It  would  not  have  been  in  character  for  a  Jew  to  ex- 
press himself  as  Pilate  did,  or  for  Pilate  to  express 
himself  as  a  believer  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  would 
have  done. 

Again  ;  in  the  case  of  Sliadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego,  we  ought  to  have  "the  fourth  is  like  a  son  of  a 
god,"  nut  "the  Son  of  God." 


THE  ADJECTIVE— ITS  PROPERTIES.  239 


SECTION  V. 

ADJECTIVE. 

CEAPTEE  I. 

THE  ADJECTIVE — ITS  PROPERTIES. 

An  adjective  is  a  term  adjected  or  added  to  a  noun, 
and  is  expressive  of  its  quality,  or  dimensions:  as,  good, 
least.  In  this  respect,  it  bears  the  same  relation  to  tlie 
noun  as  the  adverb  does  to  the  verb.  It  expresses 
some  attribute  of  the  noun,  either  essential  or  contin- 
gent, absolute  or  relative.  It  is  capable,  therefore,  of 
expressing  the  attributes  of  nouns  under  different  modi- 
fications and  intensities.  The  English  adjective  has  no 
variation  in  number,  case,  or  gender.  In  this  respect, 
it  differs  from  most  other  languages,  and  from  the  Greek 
in  particular,  which  riots  in  contractions,  evolutions, 
involutions,  and  inflexions  of  case,  gender,  and  number. 
With  whatever  letter,  or  whatever  combination  of  letters 
the  English  adjective  may  terminate,  it  is  immutable. 
The  terminations  of  adjectives  are  on  this  very  account 
various,  because  they  arc  not  subject  to  restraint. 
They  are  not  cast  in  any  particular  mould.  They  have 
no  artificial  paces.  They  at  once  say  what  they  mean; 
and  the  same  adjective,  under  the  same  form,  is  appli- 
cable to  any  object  in  creation,  supposing  the  quality 
which  it  expresses  to  belong  to  that  object,  cither  acci- 
dentally pr  essentially.    With  respect  to  the  siguificatiou 


2-40  THE  ADJECTIVE — ITS  PROPERTIES. 

of  adjectives,  one  broad  distinction  is  to  be  found  in 
wordsendingin/«?,  and  those  ending  in  less;  the  former 
denoting  ^J056es5ibn  of,  the  other  absence  of.  Adjectives 
of  this  description  are  of  extensive  and  easy  application ; 
and,  when  a  foreigner  is  told  tliat  the  English  adjective 
has  no  variation  whatever,  and  that,  as  a  general  prin- 
ciple, adjectives  ending  in  /ul  denote  the  jyossessicni  of, 
and  adjectives  ending  in  less,  absence  of ,  what  a  gigantic 
step  is  here  made  into  the  properties  of  this  jiart  of 
speech!  "With  what  facility  are  adjectives  of  this  de- 
scription (numerous  as  they  are)  formed  out  of  nouns; 
as  hope,  liopeful;  power,  itoicerful;  scorn,  scornful! 
Again;  in  the  case  of  adjectives  ending  in  less,  the  coa- 
lition of  less  with  a  noun  is  so  easy,  natural,  and  ex- 
pressive, that  we  at  once  acquiesce  in  the  formation  of 
adjectives  of  this  description,  though  such  ibrmation 
may  individually  be  entirely  novel. 

"Tl»c  world  WHS  vnid  ; 
The  population  and  the  powerful  was  u  lump 
Reasonless,  hcrhlcss,  treeless,  inauless,  li/vless — 
A  lump  of  death — a  ehaos  of  hard  clay."  Uvkon. 

Jls  Position. 

As,  then,  the  adjective  in  Knglish  has  no  variation, 
undergoes  no  change  of  form,  it  is  obvious  that  its 
projjer  place  must  be  such  as  not  to  run  the  chance  of 
ambiguity  by  a  false  position.  The  j)roces3  must  bo 
one  of  agglutination,  adhesion.  The  general  position 
of  the  Knglish  adjective  is,  therefore,  immediately  before 
the  noun  to  which  it  belongs;  as,  "  a  xuise  man,"  "a 
blind  man."  But,  if  the  adjective  should  be  (lualilieil, 
or  uiVected  by  something  which  follows,  then  ^Is  |iri>j)er 


CONFUSION  OF  PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES.        241 

position  will  be  after  the  noun ;  as,  "  a  man  vsise  in  his 
own  conceit."  Such  is  the  general  principle  in  the  use 
of  the  English  adjective ;  and  the  following  passage, 
which  deviates  from  this  principle,  is  inconsistent  with 
the  English  idiom  : — 

"  For  a  great  door  and  effectual  is  opened  unto  me." — 1  Cor.  xvi.  9. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

CONFUSION  OF  PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES. 

There  is  so  strong  an  instinctive  abhorrence  of  gram- 
matical inflexions  in  the  English  character  everywhere 
manifested  in  the  present  structure  of  the  language, 
that  the  adjective  is  fortunate  indeed  in  thus  escaping 
the  possibility  of  mutilation.  We  have,  however,  cer- 
tain terms  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  pronominal 
adjectives,  inasmuch  as  they  are  added  to  nouns,  as 
demonstrative,  distributive,  alternative,  collective;  and 
these,  being  subject  either  to  a  variation  of  form,  or  to 
a  restrictive  application,  meet  very  often  with  uncere- 
monious and  irrespective  treatment.  Thus,  we  find 
this,  of  the  singular  number,  joined  to  means  of  the 
plural ;  whilst  tliose,  of  the  plural  number,  is  joined  to 
kind  and  sort  of  the  singular  number :  as,  "  Those  kind 
of  things"  {Swift) ;  "  Those  kind  of  gods"  {Addison) ; 
"These  kind  of  sufferings"  {Sherlock).  Such  expressions 
exact  a  humble  resignation  to  the  tyranny  of  custom. 

Collective  numbers,  however,  will  admit  of  this  being 
21 


2i2  CONFUSION  OF 

used  before  nouns  of  the  plural  number;  as,  '■^This  forty 
summers"  (»S'//a%)eare);  "This  nineteen  years'^  {Ibid.). 
Even  a  numeral  adjective  denoting  plurality  is  some- 
times joined  to  a  noun  of  the  singular  number,  as  in 
Chaucer's  "Canterbury  Tales:" — 

"  In  twenty  raancrc  cou'd  be  trip  ami  dance." 

This  form  of  expression  would  not,  however,  be  tolerated 
now. 

Uach. 

The  pronominal  adjective  each  is  distributive,  and  has 
reference  to  individual  objects  only.  Here  we  take 
advantage  of  its  immutable  form,  and  apply  it  often  in 
a  collective  sense,  when  it  ought  to  be  applied  in  a  dis- 
tributive and  restrictive  sense;  as, 

"  It  is  oh3Crval)lo  that  each  ono  of  the  letters  l>ear  date  after 
his  banishineut." — Bcntky. 

To  this  might  be  adtled  innumerable  examples. 

Eillicr. 

Again  ;  either  is  sometimes  used  in  the  place  o{  each. 
Either  gives  simply  an  alternative;  as,  "Place  them 
on  citlier  side,"  that  is,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  but  not 
on  both:  wliilst  each  signifies  both  taken  distributively ; 
as,  "Place  them  on  each  side,"  that  is,  on  both  sides 
apart.     Thus: — 

"They  enioifiod  Iwu  uthers  with  him,  ou  c/V/icr  side  one,  and 
.TeHUS  in  thi'  midst." 


PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES,  243 

An  expression  which  does  not  meet  the  case ;  for  it  is 
not  meant  to  assert  that,  if  you  do  not  find  that  a 
thief  was  crucified  on  this  side,  he  was  crucified  on  thai; 
but  that  two  thieves  were  crucified,  one  on  each  side, 
on  this  side  and  on  that;  not  this  or  that,  ivtsiOcv  xai 
Ivtcvosv,     So,  also, 

"  On  eitha-  side  of  the  river  was  the  tree  of  life." — Eev.  xxi.  2. 
On  each  side. 

Eoery^  Any. 

Whilst,  in  the  two  preceding  examples,  the  alterna- 
tive pronominal  adjective  either  is  used  in  the  place  of 
the  distributive  pronoun  adjective  each^  we  have,  in  the 
following  example,  the  distributive  every  used  in  the 
place  of  any  ;  the  former  implying  all  distrihutively,  the 
other  all  electively. 

''  The  warriors,  on  the  contrary,  represented  the  powers  of  the 
neighboring  kings,  the  comlnnatious  formed  against  their  state, 
and  the  weakness  of  their  wall,  which  tvery  earthquake  might 
overthrow." — Goldsmith,  Citizen  of  the  World,  Letter  25. 

In  this  passage,  every  ought  to  be  any ;  for,  when  once 
the  wall  should  be  overthrown,  it  was  not  in  the  power 
of  any  other  earthquake  to  overthrow  it.  Twenty 
earthquakes  in  succession  could  not  all  overthrow  the 
wall,  when  the  first  of  the  series  had  already  done  it, 
unless  one  and  the  same  thingicould  be  done  at  dif- 
ferent times,  which  is  absurd. 


244        CONFUSION  OF  PRONOMINAL  ADJECTIVES. 

None. 

"We  have,  again,  an  irregular  and  capricious  use  of 
no^ie,  which  is  a  contraction  of  no  one,  and  therefore 
improperly  used  to  express  i)lurality. 

AIL 

AU,  which  is  a  collective  adjective,  is  sometimes  used 
for  everi/,  which  is  distributive. 

"Hence,  to  use  the  preceding  examples,  it  is  eviilent  that  the 
idea  tree  is  applicable  to  a  laurel  or  to  a  plane-tree,  to  a  lofty 
tree  or  to  a  low  one,  to  a  fruit  tree  or  to  one  of  the  forest;  it 
may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  one  nature  common  to  all  indi- 
vidual trees." — Xote  to  Translation  of  Alil rich's  Logic. 

All  trees,  both  here  and  elsewhere,  means  all  trees 
collectively^  whilst  individual  trees  means  each  tree 
taken  separately — something  incapable  of  division — 
individual.  There  is,  therefore,  an  incongruity  of  terms. 
We  can  say  each  individual,  and  every  individual,  but 
not  all  individuals;  for,  whilst  one  of  the  terms  em- 
braces community,  the  other  is  antagonistic. 

When  we  seem  so  incapable  of  managing  our  pro- 
nouns and  the  pronominal  adjectives  which  we  pos- 
sess; mingling  indiscriminately  collectives,  distribu- 
tives, alternatives;  confounding  the  singular  witli  the 
plural  number,  and  the  nominative  with  the  objective 
case;  what  havoc  must  liavc  taken  place  if  our  simj)le 
adjectives  had  not  hap]>ily  been  denuded  of  all  tlicir 
variations ! 

In  the  following  passage,  tlic  pronominal  adjective 
all  is  bcaufifuHy,  and  with  great  propriety,  used  in  the 
place  of  the  copulative  conjunction  :  — 


ADJECTIVE  IN  PLACE  OF  ADVEEB.  245 

"  All  heart  they  live,  all  head,  all  eye,  all  ear, 
All  intellect,  all  sense."  Paradise  Lost,  book  vi. 

The  meaning  of  this  could  not  have  been  given  but  by 
a  repetition  of  the  word  all  in  each  member  of  the  sen- 
tence. The  copulative  conjunction  would  not  have 
served  the  purpose  intended,  Raphael,  in  this  passage, 
is  describing  to  Adam  the  nature  of 

"Spirits  that  live  throughout, 
Vital  in  every  part — that 
Cannot,  but  by  annihilating,  die." 

He  affirms,  therefore,  that  spirits  do  not,  like  men,  de- 
pend upon  the  functions  of  particular  organs,  but  that 
in  every  part  they  possess  all  the  essentials  of  vitality ; 
and  that,  though  one  or  more  organs  should  receive 
injury,  still  the  principle  and  use  of  that  organ,  or 
organs,  are  to  be  found  in  each  of  the  other  organs. 
They  are  not  all  heart,  ayid  head,  and  eye,  and  ear,  and 
intellect,  and  sense.  That  is,  these  are  not  the  qualities 
which  collectively  constitute  a  spirit;  but  its  having 
every  one  of  these  attributes,  in  every  one  of  its  sepa- 
rate organs,  so  that  the  destruction  of  the  eye  would 
not  afiect  the  faculty  of  sight,  or  the  destruction  of  the 
ear  the  faculty  of  hearing. 


CHAPTER    III. 

ADJECTIVE  IN  THE  PLACE  OF  THE  ADVERB, 

In  poetic  diction,  we  very  frequently  meet  with  the 
adjective  in  the  place  of  the  adverb.    This  principle  is 

2P 


246  ADJECTIVE  IX  THE 

by  no  means  peculiar  to  the  English  language.  In 
Latin,  indeed,  its  use,  in  this  respect,  has  a  wider  range 
than  the  idiom  of  the  English  language  will  allow. 

'•  So  siciYt  throiirrb  a?ther  the  shrill  hiirpy  springs, 
The  wide  air  floatin<r  to  her  ample  wings."' 

Pope,  Ilmd,  xix. 

"  The  charioteer  then  whirled  the  lash  around. 
And  sioift  ascended  at  one  active  bound."         Jbid.  xix. 

"  As  when  the  sun,  nejv  risen. 
Looks  through  the  misty  horizontal  air, 
Shorn  of  his  beams."  Paradise  Lust,  book  i. 

"  Cross  ajther  sivift  elance  the  vivid  fire.", 
As  sivift  again  each  pointed  fiame  retires." 

PopK.  Iliad. 

The  difference  in  the  meaning  conveyed  by  the  ad- 
jective sivift,  from  tliat  which  would  be  conveyed  by 
the  adverb  siciflbj,  is  that,  in  cases  of  this  kind,  the 
adjective  denotes  some  qualification,  or  habitual  pro- 
perty; whereas  the  adverb,  which  qualifies  the  verb, 
applies  only  to  the  individual  action  then  expressed  by 
the  verb.  Eor  instance:  though  Achilles  might  ascend 
his  chariot  slowly,  yet  he  was  not  the  less,  on  that  ac- 
count rtdSoj  wxCrj,  swift  of  foot;  and,  though  another 
hero  might  ascend  his  chariot  swiftli/,  still  he  might  not 
be  entitled  to  the  general  character  o{  swift  of  foot;  the 
adjective,  in  such  a  case,  denoting  the  quality  of  the 
noun;  tlie  adverb  qualifying  simply  the  particular 
action  or  slate  expressed  by  the  verh.  The  signification 
of  the  adjective  is  pcrmanoU,  tiiat  of  the  adverb  transi- 
tory. 

The  genius  of  the  Engli.><h  language,  as  it  has  been 


PLACE  OF  THE  ADVERB.  247 

observed,  is  not  always  compatible  with  that  of  the 
Latin,  in  the  use  of  the  adjective  in  the  place  of  the 
adverb.  As  in  the  example  given  in  the  Eton  Gram- 
mar, we  can  say,  "Pii  orant  iaciti,^^  and  the  pious  pray 
silent;  yet,  as  Mr.  Edwards  has  justly  observed,  there 
are  many  examples  at  variance  with  the  idiom  of  our 
language,  as  taceo  muhws,  loqnov  frecjuens,  scribo  epis- 
tolas  rarissimws. 

AVhen  an  adjective  is  not  an  epithet  of  the  noun,  but 
simply  qualifies  the  action  of  the  verb,  its  usurpation 
of  the  place  of  the  adverb  is  not  altogether  consistent 
with  grammatical  propriety.  It  must,  however,  be  ac- 
knowledged that  it  adds  greater  force  to  the  passage 
into  which  it  is  introduced.     As: 

"  Science  by  thee  flows  soft,  in  social  ease, 
And  virtue  losing  rigor  learns  to  please." 

Savage,  Verses  to  Viscount  Tyrconnel. 

"  In  still  descent  she  melts  on  opening  flowers, 
And  deep  impregnates  plants  with  genial  showers."     Ihid. 

In  the  following  passage  from  Savage,  "Wanderer," 
canto  5,  the  use  of  the  adjective  for  the  adverb  has  not 
even  the  merit  of  conveying  the  meaning  intended  by 
the  author: —    * 

"  He  weeps,  stamps  wild,  and  to  and  fro  now  flies, 
Now  wrings  his  hands,  and  sends  unmanly  cries, 
Arraigns  his  judge,  affirms  unjust  he  bleeds. 
And  now  recants,  and  now  for  mercy  pleads." 

The  grammatical  meaning  is  here  the  reverse  of  that 
which  the  poet  intends.  Were  the  adverb  used  in  this 
place  unjustly^  instead  of  unjust^  the  sense  would  be 
that  he  bleeds — suffers  unjustly,  or  by  an  unjust  sen- 


243  ADJECTIVE  IN  PLACE  OF  ADVERB. 

tcncc;  and  tliis  is  the  meaning  obviously  intended,  the 
term  unjust  Laving  reference  to  the  verb  bleeds^  and  not 
to  the  man:  but  when  we  say  that  tny'usl  he  bleeds,  the 
affirmation  is,  that  he  bleeds  or  sutlers  as  an  unjust  man. 
In  the  one  case,  the  man  affirms  that  his  punishment  is 
not  just:  in  the  other  that  he,  being  a  guilty  man,  is 
punished.  Whatever  may  be  the  poet's  intention,  this 
difference  of  meaning  would  arise  out  of  a  confusion  of 
the  adjective  with  the  adverb. 

The  old  form  of  using  the  adjective  in  the  place  of 
the  adverb,  to  qualify  the  meaning  of  another  adjective, 
is  now  generally  exploded.  Such  phrases  as  ^^marvel- 
lous white,"  ^^indifferent  well,"  of  Sliakspeare,  ^'■wonder- 
ful silly,"  of  Butler,  &c.,  are  not,  or  at  least  ought  not, 
to  be  found  in  modern  authorities. 


ABJECTIVE  IN  PLACE  OF  THE  NOUX.  249 

CHAPTER  IV. 

ADJECTIVE  IX  THE  PLACE  OF   THE  NOUN, 

Milton  frequently  uses  the  adjective  in  the  place  of 
the  noun  substantive ;  as, 

"  So  much  of  death  her  thoughts 
Had  entertain'd,  as  dyed  her  cheeks  with  pale." 

Paradise  Lost,  book  i. 

"I  by  conversing  cannot  these  erect 
From  prone."  Ibid,  book  ix. 

"  From  strength,  from  truth  divided,  and  from  just." 

Ibid,  book  vi. 

"  Tending  to  tvild."  Ibid. 

"  What  heaven's  lord  had  potoerf idlest  to  send."         Ibid. 

AVith  all  clue  deference  to  the  authority  of  Milton,  the 
effect  is  not  agreeable. 

In  the  following  passage  from  Ezekiel  xxviii.  7,  the 
noun  is  elegantly  understood,  the  adjective  standing 
alone : — 

"  Behold,  therefore,  I  will  bring  upon  thee  the  terrible  of  the 
nations" — 

the  term  terrible  being  here  taken  in  a  partitive  sense, 
and  quite  justifiable. 


250         PREVENTIVE — PARTICULAR — PECITTJAR. 

CHAPTER    V. 

PREVENTIVE. — PARTICULAR. — PECULIAR. 

There  is  a  word  in  our  language,  a  participle  adjec- 
tive, which  is  frequently  written  and  spoken  improperly; 
the  term  preventive^  which  is  made  preventative.  It  is 
almost  needless  to  say  that  the  word  preventive  is  de- 
rived from  two  Latin  words,  ^^ne  before,  and  venio  to 
come;  and  is  used  to  signify  something  coming  before 
a  certain  thing,  which  otherwise  would  happen,  and 
thus  hindering  or  preventing  it  from  happening.  In 
one  of  our  collects,  2)J'eveut  is  used  in  its  simple  and 
original  meaning — jo  he/ore  us,  and  so  make  way  for 
us.  "Prevent  us,  O  Lord,  in  all  our  doings."  Kow 
vcnio  makes  veni  and  vcntiim,  from  which  we  have  i'e7i- 
tive,  prce  ventive — not  ventitive  or  vcntative — preventive. 

Savage  properly  writes — 

"  Preventive  of  tbj-  call,  lioliuld  my  haste, 

(He  says)  nor  let  warm  tbank-s  thy  spirits  waste."      Wdmhrcr. 

Again : — 

"  I  ppriiig  prertiitirv,  and  unbar  the  way."  Ibiil. 

Yet  in  lirewstcr's  "Natural  Magic,"  jiage  305,  wo 
find, 

"And  it  hiLS  liren  jdaiisildy  conjecliircd  hy  Uerkman  that, 
during  the  first  tiiree  days,  the  prirciUdtirr  wa.s  ai)i)lied  to  those 
whom  tbcy  wished  to  acf)iiit." 

A  mo  makes  (nnritmn,  liom  whicli  we  have,  amative, 
iii>t  amatative ;  invcho.  iurrction,  iuvcdive ;  allligo,  ajjlic- 


COMPARISON  OF  ADJECTIVES.  251 

turn,  afflictive;  dono,  donatum,  donative.  Preventative 
may,  therefore,  be  looked  upon  as  a  prodigal  son  who 
has  wandered  out  of  the  family  circle,  and  ought  to  be 
brought  back  as  a  penitent,  and  resume  the  family  fea- 
tures and  habiliments. 

Particular  and  Peculiar. 

Particular  relates  to  that  which  is  possessed  in 
common ;  peculiar  to  that  which  is  exclusive.  The 
style  of  singing  might  be  the  same  in  two  parties,  yet 
one  of  them  might  be  distinguished  from  the  other,  as 
singing  particularly  well.  But  should  one  singer  differ 
from  every  other  singer  in  his  style  of  execution,  then 
he  might  not  only  sing  ijarticularly  well,  but  in  a  style 
peculiar  to  himself. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COMPARISON  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

Things  in  their  essences  diO  not  admit  of  comparison. 
A  mouse  is  just  as  much  an  animal  as  an  elephant  is. 
They  both  come  under  the  generic  term  animal ;  both 
possess  the  same  principle  of  animation.  They  possess 
this  principle  in  common.  Whether  mouse,  elephant, 
or  man,  all  are  equally  animals. 

Again;  ananimula  miscrula, an  infinitesimal  fraction 
of  humanity  as  far  as  magnitude  is  concerned,  is  "every 
inch  a  man,"  and  possesses  all  the  essential  qualities  of 


252  COMTARISOX  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

the  species,  as  mucli  as  a  man  of  the  most  gigantic  pro- 
])ortions. 

Comparison  begins  where  unessential  properties  only 
are  designated.  This  man  possesses  the  attribute  of 
strength  ;  that  man  possesses  it  in  a  greater  degree ;  he 
is  more  strong  than  the  other,  A  third  is  not  only 
stronger  than  the  first ;  he  is  stronger  than  the  second  ; 
he  is  the  strongest  of  the  three.  As  men,  they  do  not 
differ;  but  they  differ  in  the  gradations  of  non-essential 
attributes :  and  tliese  attributes  arc  denoted  by  the 
adjective,  either  absolutely  or  relatively. 

It  is,  however,  a  question,  whether  any  absolute 
quality  can  exist,  and  whether  any  epithet,  which  we 
can  apply  to  a  noun,  has  not  reference  to  something 
either  expressed  or  understood.  If  I  say  "this  material 
is  coarse,"  "  this  man  is  tall,"  in  the  first  case  the  coarse- 
ness of  the  material  has  reference  to  the  general  condi- 
tion of  materials  of  a  certain  kind.  In  the  second 
case,  the  tallncss  of  a  particular  man  has  reference  to  the 
general  stature  of  men  ;  and  though,  in  such  cases, 
there  is  no  immediate  comparison  between  individual 
things  or  persons,  there  is  a  reference  to  a  general  stan-* 
dard.  A  learned  man  is  so  termed  with  reference  to 
some  general  standard  of  intelligence ;  and  were  the 
term  learned  used  ahsohUehj  and  ivWiout  reference  to  a 
tacit  standard,  it  might  be  applied  indifferently  to  a 
scientific  Kurojiean,  or  to  a  luminous  Hottentot.  It  is 
with  reference  to  a  general  though  local  standard,  then, 
that  we  call  a  man  good^  or  tall^  or  learned ;  so  far,  those 
terms  which  wc  term  positive^  and  absolute,  are  compar- 
ative. Amongst  a  certain  clas.s,  one  man  ranks  as 
learned ;  he  is  above  the  general  condition.    Another  is 


ADJECTIVES  NOT  ADMITTING  COMPAEISON.        253 

more  learned  than  this  man ;  and  another  is  the  most 
learned  of  all.  Thus,  a  general  standard  is  the  basis. 
A  learned  man  is  the  first  gradation  of  comparison, 
more  learned  the  second,  and  most  learned  the  third  gra- 
dation. 

The  comparative  degree  relates  to  two  objects,  or 
two  parties  only,  one  of  which  may  be  taller,  shorter, 
thicker,  thinner,  than  the  other.  The  superlative  de- 
gree relates  to  any  number  more  than  two.  It  is  the 
third  gradation,  and  stands  above  all  competition.  A 
man  may  be  the  tallest  of  three,  or  of  three  thousand. 
He  oversteps  all  subordinate  gradations  of  stature. 
Hence  we  say  the  taller  of  two,  but  the  tallest  of  three, 
or  of  many. 


CnATTER  VII. 

ADJECTIVES  NOT  ADMITTING   COMPARISON. 

Some  adjectives  do  not  admit  of  comparison.  Their 
inherent  signification  admits  neither  increase  nor  dimi- 
nution, intensity  nor  remission.  Among  these  are 
reckoned  definite  quantity,  as  a  hundred.  A  hundred, 
whether  applied  to  things  small  or  great,  is  still  a  hun- 
dred. Definite  property,  arising  from  figure,  admits  of 
no  comparison.  One  circle  cannot  be  more  of  a  circle 
than  any  other  circle.  Circles  may  differ  in  magni- 
tude, which  is  an  accidental  property ;  but  they  cannot 
differ  in  the  essential  property  of  figure.     One  figure 

90 


254      ADJECTIVES  Not  admitting  compakison. 


cannot  be  more  circular  than  another,  for  every  figure 
i3  either  circular  or  not  circular  at  all.  There  can  be 
no  comparison  between  a  property  that  exists  in  one 
thing,  and  which  does  not  exist  at  all  in  another. 

A  quadrangle  must  have  four  angles.  If  we  take 
away  one  angle,  it  ceases  to  be  a  quadrangular  figure; 
if  we  add  one,  it  ceases  to  be  quadrangular.  It  cannot 
be  made  more  or  less  quadrangular.  It  admits  of  no 
intension — no  remission. 

Dr.  Andrews  gives  a  list  of  adjectives  which  do  not 


«tU      VA         VAX./^  t.  \/^kJ    ■ 

t-**j* 

Almighty. 

Free. 

Reverend. 

Certain. 

Full. 

Right. 

Chief. 

Godly. 

Royal. 

Circular. 

(Joldon. 

Safe. 

Conscious. 

(jratuitous. 

Serene. 

Continual. 

Heavenly. 

Solid. 

Dead. 

Human. 

Soun<I. 

Earthly. 

Infinito. 

Square. 

Kmply. 

Lawful. 

Suliject. 

Extreme. 

Leaden. 

Supreme. 

External. 

Living. 

'I'riaugular 

Everlasting. 

Natural. 

True. 

False. 

Patorniil. 

Universal 

Filial. 

Ferfect. 

Void. 

Fluid. 

Perpetual. 

We  frequently',  however,  meet  with  some  of  these 
adjectives  in  a  comparative  or  superlative  form  ;  a.«!, 

"l?ut  first  and  rUiiffst  with  thee  bring." 

Mn.TON,  11  Pcuseroso. 


"  That  on  the  sea's  cxtrcmcHt  border  stood." 


AonisoN. 


Again:  wo  liave  gradations  of  the  superlative  ilcgree. 
That  which  is  infinite  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things, 


ADJECTIVES  NOT  ADMITTING  COMPARISON.       255 

be  more  or  less  infinite;  yet  we  say  infinitesimal,  and 
not  only  great,  greater,  greatest,  but  by  far  the  greater 
and  far  greatest.  We  even  qualify  the  positive  form  of 
an  adjective,  as,  "He  is  tallishf^  "The  taste  of  it  is 
litterislbr  Such  expressions  denote  an  approximation 
only  to  the  positive  form  of  the  adjective.  We  also 
qualify  comparatives  by  such  terms  as  somewhat  little^ 
still,  almost,  much,  so,  exceedingly.  In  particular  cases, 
a  double  superlative  is  admitted;  as  when  applied  to 
the  Deity,  as  Most  Highest.  Shakspeare  uses  it  in  an 
ordinary  case;  as, 

"  This  was  the  viost  unJcindest  cut  of  all."        Julius  Ccesar. 

Another  mode  of  comparison,  which  in  its  nature  is 
eminently  superlative,  is  to  select  a  certain  class  out  of 
numbers,  and  to  make  that  class  which,  as  a  whole,  is 
superior  to  the  common  herd,  the  starting-point  of  com- 
parison; as,  "Lord  of  lords;"  "King  of  kings;"  "The 
bravest  of  the  brave."  As  all  men  are  not  brave,  brave 
is  in  itself  comparative  in  such  a  situation ;  and  if  the 
brave  exceed  the  common  herd,  much  more  does  the 
bravest  exceed  the  common  herd. 

The  mind  readily  acquiesces,  too,  in  the  sublime  con- 
ception of  Milton: — 

"  And  in  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep 
Still  threatening  to  devour  me  opens  wide." 

Paradise  Lust,  book  iv. 

In  the  following  passage,  a  progressive  increase  in 
the  comparison  is  effected  by  the  addition  of  yet  after 
a  comparative  adjective ;  as, 

"  Short,  shorter,  shorter  yd  my  breath  1  drew." 

Savaue.  Wanderer. 


256  COXFl'SION  OF  COMPARATIVES. 

Thougli  custom,  and  even  tlie  nature  of  things,  admit 
of  graduated  comparatives,  custom  and  propriety  have 
ceased  to  recognize  double  comparatives.  They  were 
common  in  a  former  age;  but  not  having  necessity  as 
their  foundation,  they  have  deservedly  fallen  into  dis- 
use, and  are  now  looked  upon  as  mere  vulgarisms. 

"  Wliioh  title  had  been  more  truer,  if  the  dictionary  had  been 
in  Latin  and  "Welsh.  "^Vcrstcgan,  Episflc  to  our  Xad'on. 

"The  waters  are  more  sooner  and  ha"rder  frozen,  than  viore 
further  upward,  within  the  inlands.  " — Verstegan. 

'•  ^Vhcrc  he  shall  find 
Th'  unkindcst  beast  more  kinder  than  mankind.  " 

SuAKSi'EAKK,  Ti'mon. 

Lesser  and  icorser  have  also  fallen  into  disuse;  in  the 
age  of  Shakspeare,  they  were  very  common. 

"  I  wiijh  your  grandam  had  a  worser  march."         lit'chard  II f. 

"  There  is  ne'er  a  man  in  Christendom 
Can  leaser  hide  his  love  or  hate  than  he."  Ibid. 

"  Lesser  muse."  Audison. 

"  Worser  far."  Duydkn. 

"  Mure  sorer  punishments." — Ilehrews  s.  20. 


CIIAPTEIl   VIII. 

CONFU.SIOX  OF  COMPAll.VTIVES. 

Sek  what  confu.sion  ari.scs  in  the  following  sentence 
from  liawrcnce's  "  Lectures  on  riiysiology,"  page  16y, 
from  iuuttcntion  to  thi>  law.s  of  com[iarison  : — 


CONFUSION  OF  COMPARATIVES.  257 

"  For,  allowing  one  grain  of  encephalon  to  a  hundred  fibrils, 
the  brain  which  is  absolutely  the  least  will  have  an  overplus  of 
two  drams,  while  the  larger  has  only  one." 

The  author  is  here  speaking  of  two  brains,  and,  in 
instituting  a  comparison  between  the  two,  properly  calls 
one  of  them  the  larger;  but  why  not  the  other  the  less 
or  smaller^  and  not  least^  for  least  would  have  reference 
to  more  brains  than  two  ?  Then  would  not  one  of  them 
be  com])araiively  less,  not  absolutely  so  ?  for,  standing  ab- 
solutely^ the  term  less  would  have  no  reference  to  any 
other  brain  at  all.  Then  another  important  error  is 
couched  in  the  phrase,  "  while  ilie  larger  has  only  one^ 
The  author  really  means,  while  the  larger  has  an  over- 
plus of  one  dram  only.  To  have  only  one  dram,  and 
to  have  an  overplus  of  one  dram  only,  are  very  dif- 
ferent things  generally;  and  so  they  are  here;  yet  the 
elucidation  is  introduced  with,  "  in  order  that  my  ideas 
may  be  better  understood." 

Butler,  in  his  characters.  Small  Poet,  sarcastically  ob- 
serves oi obscure  illustrations:  — 

"  A  man  is  sure  to  gain  by  an  illustration  of  this  kind,  for  the 
darker  and  more  unintelligible  the  illustration,  the  clearer  and 
more  comprehensible  will  the  position  to  be  illustrated  become 
comparatively ;  for,  as  ladies  wear  black  patches  to  make  their 
complexions  seem  fairer  than  they  are,  so,  when  an  illustration 
is  more  obscure  than  the  sense  that  went  before  it,  it  must  of 
necessity  make  it  appear  clearer  than  it  did,  for  contraries  are 
best  set  off  by  contraries." 

In  the  following  passage,  the  position  of  the  com- 
parative adjective  is  wrong: — 

"Whereas  the  more  mild  and  gentle  they  are  treated,  the 
greater  is  there  a  chance  of  their  recovery." — Rae  Wilson. 

22* 


258  CONFUSION  OF  COMPAl^ATIVES. 

"  The  (/reader  cliancc  is  there  for  their  recovery,"  to  say 
nothing  of  mild  and  rjentle. 

'•From  my  kiiowk-dcro  of  astronomy,  navigation,  and  astrolopy, 
tlic  former  of  which  1  have  professionally  studied  above  twenty- 
four  years,  and  the  latter  art  for  my  own  amusement  during  more 
than  seven  years,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  princi- 
ple of  your  inventions  and  tliscoverics,  now  published,  may  be 
api)lied  with  infinite  advantage  by  all  persons  who  ])ractice  one  or 
other  of  the  above  arts." — Morrisuh's  Urcdmnu  itdatiun  (>f  Oxlcy's 
Planisphere. 

Former  and  latler,  as  applied  to  three  tiling  distributed, 
are  nonsense.  This  error  might  have  been  avoided  by 
saying  the  two  former  of  whieh,  &c. 

"The  question  is  not  whether  a  pond  Indian  or  bad  (a  bad) 
Knglishman  be  most  happy,  l)ut  which  state  is  most  desirable, 
Hupposing  virtue  and  reason  to  be  the  same  in  both." — Juhiison, 
Life  of  Sir  F.  Drake. 

In  this  sentence,  the  indefinite  article  should  have 
been  repeated  before  the  term  bad.  Besides,  there  arc 
two  errors  arising  from  the  use  of  the  superlative  degree 
in  the  place  of  the  comparative.  If  wo  use  the  super- 
lative degree  in  this  case,  the  comparison  instituted  is 
not  between  the  liappiness  of  a  good  Indian  and  a  bad 
Englishman,  but  between  the  happiness  of  a  good  Indian 
and  that  of  all  mankind,  and  the  happiness  of  a  bad 
Engli.shman  and  that  of  all  mankind  ;  the  question  thus 
being  whether  a  good  Indian  is  the  happiest  of  all  man- 
kind, or  a  bad  Kngli.shman  the  hajipiest  of  all  mankind, 
—  the  happiest  of  men;  but  the  question  intended  is, 
whether  a  good  Indian  is,  or  is  not,  happier  than  a  bad 
Knglishman.     It  does  not  follow  that  cither  one  or  the 


THE  VERB — ITS  MOODS  AND  TENSES.  259 

other  should  be  the  happiest  of  men,  but  one  of  them 
may  be  happier  than  the  other. 


SECTION  VI. 
THE  VERB. 

CHAPTER    I. 

ITS  MOODS  AND  TENSES. 


The  Verb,  by  way  of  pre-eminence,  the  icord,  is  the 
vital  principle  of  every  sentence.  Without  it,  no  sen- 
tence, either  affirmative  or  negative,  can  exist.  It  has 
reference  to  time  present,  past,  and  future ;  and  that, 
too,  under  various  modifications.  These  properties  of 
the  verb  give  rise  to  tenses  and  modes,  or  moods.  The 
verb  thus  becomes  more  varied  and  complex  than  any 
other  part  of  speech.  Languages  dift'or  in  the  number 
of  moods  and  tenses;  and  grammarians  differ  in  the 
classification  of  moods  and  tenses  in  one  and  the  same 
language.  Moods  representing  the  condition,  or  affec- 
tions, of  the  mind  would  be  as  varied  and  extended  as 
those  affections.  Uence  we  might  have  Indicative,  Im- 
perative, Potential,  Optative,  Subjunctive,  Infinitive, 
Vocative,  Precative,  Interrogative,  Causal,  Reflective, 
&;c.  Then,  again,  verbs  have  respect  to  different  per- 
sons, and  arc  distinguished  by  inflexions,  as  relating  to 
the  first,  second,  or  third  persons,  and  to  the  singular  or 


2G0  THE  VERIJ — ITS  MOODS  AND  TENSES. 

plural  number.  TlieEnglisliLanguagc,by  prefixingthe 
pronoun  to  the  verb,  obviates  the  necessity  of  inflecting 
the  verb  in  many  of  its  persons.  Thus  we  say,  I  love, 
wc  love,  ye  hve^  they  hve  (the  old  plural  form  hven 
having  become  obsolete),  and  I  hveJ^  he  loved^  we  hvedy 
ye  loved,  they  loved.  In  this  case,  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  singular  and  the  plural  number  of  the  verb, 
as  also  the  distinction  of  persons,  as  far  as  the  verb  it- 
self is  concerned,  is  mental,  but  not  visible.  Instances, 
however,  may  occur,  in  wliich  the  verb  may  become 
ambiguous  from  the  want  of  inflexion ;  as,  "  On  these 
two  commandments  liang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets," 
hang  being  either  indicative  or  imperative. 

Then  we  have  verbs  Active,  Passive,  and  Neuter, 
Active  Transitive  and  Active  Intransitive,  Irregular, 
Defective,  Impersonal,  Auxiliary.  Amidst  all  these 
complexities,  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  many  errors 
should  exist  in  the  diversified  application  of  the  verb  to 
varied  times,  conditions,  and  contingencies. 

The  subtle  and  logical  Harris  considers  twelve  tenses 
requisite  to  form  a  perfect  system ;  three  indefinite,  that 
is,  marking  present,  past,  and  future  time,  without 
reference  to  a  beginning;  and  nine,  as  marking  present, 
l)ast,  and  future  time,  with  reference  to  a  beginning. 

Indefinite  or  Aorist  of  the  Present,  I  write. 
of  the  Past,  I  wroto. 
of  the  Future,  1  sbiill  write. 

Inceptive  Present,  I  am  poiiip  to  write. 
Ertt'uthtl  Pi'rsrul,  I  mil  wriliiif,'. 
f'tnnjtlctivc  Present,  I   have  written. 


THE  VERB — ITS  MOODS  AND  TENSES.  261 

Inceptive  Past,  I  was  beginning  to  write. 
Extended  Past,  I  was  writing. 
Completive  Past,  I  had  done  writing. 

Inceptive  Future,  I  shall  be  beginning  to  write. 
Extended  Future,  I  shall  be  writing. 
Completive  Future^  I  shall  have  done  writing. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  expected,"  says  Harris,  "  that  the 
above  hypothesis  should  be  justified,  through  all  in- 
stances, in  every  language.  It  fares  with  tenses  as 
with  other  affections  of  speech:  be  the  language,  on  the 
whole,  ever  so  perfect,  much  must  be  left,  in  defiance 
of  analogy,  to  the  harsh  laws  of  mere  authority  and 
chance." 

Though  the  English  language,  in  its  system  of  tenses 
does  not  follow  this  classification  and  denomination, 
yet  it  is  by  no  means  useless  to  have  these  philosophical 
and  explanatory  principles  of  the  tenses  placed  before 
us. 

Moods  or  modes  are  defined  by  Priscian,  "  Modi 
sunt  diversa3  inclinationes  animi,  quas  varia  conse- 
quuntur  declinatio  verbi."  Modes  or  moods  represent 
the  different  feelings  of  the  mind,  to  which  feelings 
the  varied  inflexions  of  the  verb  are  adapted.  Ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Andrews,  the  Arabic  has  thirteen  moods, 
the  Sanscrit  six,  the  liussian  seven.  These  are  the 
greatest  numbers  of  modes,  or  moods,  out  of  twenty- 
eight  European  and  Asiatic  languages.  The  number  of 
moods  is  obviously,  therefore,  a  matter  of  uncertainty, 
depending  upon  the  peculiar  genius  and  construction  of 
a  language. 


2G2  AUXIIJAHV  VEllBS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  AUXILIARY  VERB, 

The  auxiliarjvcrb  in  English  simplifies  the  inflexions 
of  the  principal  verb,  by  its  being  prefixed  to  the  present 
or  past  participle ;  as,  I  am  loving,  I  am  loved,  I  was 
loving,  I  had  loved,  I  shall  be  loving,  I  shall  have  loved. 
Here  we  have  but  two  terminations  of  the  principal 
verb,  and  yet  in  all  these  cases  the  action  of  the  verb 
is  clearly  defined  with  reference  to  time.  By  means 
of  this  simple  contrivance,  the  inflexions  of  a  regular 
English  verb  are  reduced  to  six,  including  its  partici- 
pial terminations,  love,  lovest,  lovedst,  loveth  (or  loves), 
loved,  loving.  An  irregular  verb  has  one  more  varia- 
tion, as  drive,  drivest,  drives,  drivcdst,  drove,  driving, 
driven  ;  an  extraordinary  fact,  when  compared  with  the 
manifold  windings  and  diversities  of  the  Greek  verb, 
and  traceable  perhaps  to  the  genius  and  character  of  a 
people  who  are  jn'one  to  set  aside  all  useless  incum- 
brances and  appendages  in  the  business  of  life,  and  to 
eflcct  their  purpose  by  the  simplest  means. 

The  auxiliaries  be,  do,  have,  let,  may,  can,  shall,  will, 
might,  would,  should,  ought,  must,  arc  the  exponents 
of  our  moods  and  tenses.  They  determine  the  time 
and  mode  of  the  verb's  action  ;  they  express  tlio  percep- 
tions and  volitions  of  the  mind. 

To  Be. 

Jk,  in  the  scn.se  of  aw,  as  I  be,  is  now  ob.soleto,  though 
still  in  use  amongst  otir  peasantry  of  the  south.     The 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  263 

verb  to  he  is  also  a  principal,  as  well  as  an  auxiliary; 
and,  in  this  case,  has  the  sense  of  exists,  and  stands 
separately — "God  is;  "There  is  a  God;"'  "Honesty  is 
the  best  policy."  In  these  cases,  the  verb  is  expresses 
a  general  proposition,  having  reference  to  present,  past, 
and  future  time — on  eternal  truth — a  variable,  ever- 
lasting now. 


o 


Am  and  Was. 

Lowth  doubts  of  the  propriety  of  such  expressions 
as  the  following,  though  doubt  seems  too  modest  a 
term : — 

"  The  rules  of  our  holy  religion,  from  which  we  are  infinitely 
swerved." —  Tillotson. 

^^  Have  infinitely  swerved." 

"  Was  also  ceased." —  Tillotson. 

"  Whose  number  luas  now  amounted  to  three  hundred." — Sivift. 

"  This  mareschal,  on  some  discontent,  was  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  master." — Addison. 

"  At  the  end  of  the  campaign,  when  half  the  men  are  deserted 
or  killed."— Ibid. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  propriety  of  using  am 
and  ivas  as  auxiliaries  is  this;  am  and  teas  may  be  ap- 
plied to  verbs  as  auxiliaries,  when  the  principal  verb 
implies  motion,  or  a  change  of  condition ;  as,  "  I  am 
comef  "I  xcas  gone  f^  "I  tvas  fallen;^'  "They  are  icaxen 
fat;"  "Israel /^yZec/."  We  find  the  same  principle  in 
French,  "/Z  a  vemi"  he  is  come;  "/Z  est  tombe,^^  he  is 
fallen.  But,  if  we  take  the  phrase,  "when  half  the  men 
are  deserted,  or  killed,^^  we  then  place  are  deserted  in 


26-t  AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

the  same  category  as  are  hilled;  "  are  deserted  and 
are  killed."  Both  are  the  passive  forms  of  the  verb, 
la  both  cases,  imssion  is  understood.  Both  verbs  ex- 
press something  acted  upon.  Both  forms  arc  precisely 
alike.  Both  are  derived  from  the  active  verbs  to  de- 
sert, to  kill ;  yet  in  the  first  case  the  verb  expresses  vol- 
untary action,  in  the  second  suflcrance.  Are  deserted 
signifies  properly  are  deserted  by  something;  and  are 
hilled  s\gn\£\QS  are  Icilledhy  something.  But  this  is  not 
the  author's  meaning,  nor  will  the  sense  bear  it.  The 
sentence  is,  in  fact,  nonsense. 

Am  and  ivas  may  then  be  used,  with  propriety,  as 
auxiliaries,  when,  in  conjunction  with  the ^>?'mc//)a^  verb, 
they  simply  express  the  time  of  an  action,  but  not  when 
they  affect  the  action  itself.  This  is  Lowth's  view  of  the 
principle  involved  in  the  use  of  these  auxiliaries,  and  it 
seems  to  be  the  right  one. 

There  is,  however,  a  much  more  palpable  violation 
of  grammar  in  the  use  of  the  verb  xcas.  It  falls  upon  a 
grammatical  ear  like  a  hideous  discord.  In  weighing 
such  expressions,  we  must  divest  ourselves  of  every 
vestige  of  reverence  for  mere  names.  Poets,  orators, 
historians,  critics,  when  thrown  into  the  grammatical 
crucible,  come  out  simply  as  men,  stripped  of  all  adven- 
titious ornaments.  You  teas,  instead  of  you  were,  in 
point  of  propriety  stands  on  a  par  with  thou  tvere.  The 
authority  of  Addison  in  matters  of  grammar;  of  Bent- 
ley,*  who  evidently  never  made  the  Engli.sh  grammar 

*  This  prcat  cnlic  is  now  ruthtr  lijrhtly  spoken  of,  ovon  in  liis 
Hlronffholtl — claHsical  criticisin.  Tlie  lulluwinf,'  observation  oc- 
curs iu  tlic  uilvcrtiscineut  to  the  iirstcdiliuu  to  "  Tate'rt  lutroduc- 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  265 

his  study;  of  Bolingbroke,  Pope,  and  others,  is  as  no- 
thing. Nothing  short  of  universal  adoption,  before 
which  all  must  bow,  can  ever  sanction  the  expression 
you  luas.  It  can  find  no  refuge  but  in  ignorance  or 
silly  affectation. 

"  Knowing  that  you  u-as  my  old  master's  good  friend." — Spec- 
tator, 517. 

"  The  account  yoic  was  pleased  to  send  me." — Bentley. 

"  Would  to  God  you  was  within  her  reach." — Bolingbroke. 

"  I  am  just  now  as  well  as  when  you  was  here." — Pope. 

Lowth  justly  calls  this  expression  "an  enormous  sole- 
cism." But  this  is  not  all,  in  the  case  of  Bentley;  he 
even  uses  the  verb  tvas  in  connection  with  a  plural  noun 
of  the  third  person. 

"  As  one  would  think  there  teas  more  sophists  than  one  had 
(who  had)  a  finger  in  this  volume  of  letters." — Bentley's  Dis- 
course on  Socrates'  Epistles. 

A  specimen  of  mere  nursery  English,  in  a  very  short 
space  embracing  two  vile  errors. 

The  auxiliary  verb  joined  to  the  participle,  as  he  is 
drinking,  in  some  instances  does  not  convey  the  same 
meaning  as  he  drinks.  He  is  drinking  indicates  a  pre- 
sent action ;  he  drinks  may  indicate  a  habit.  Thus,  he 
drinks  luine  at  dinner  means  that  he  does  so  habitually : 
whilst  he  is  drinking  wine  at  dinner  confines  the  act  of 
drinking  wine  to  that  particular  occasion.  Boys  play, 
that  is,  it  is  the  nature  of  boys  to  play.     The  Esqui- 

tion  to  the  principal  Tragic  and  Comic  Metres  :"  "  Many  things 
now  familiar  to  young  academics,  thanks  to  the  labors  of  Dawes 
and  Burney.aud  Parr  and  Porson,  and  Elmsley,  were  utterly  un- 
known to  scholars  like  Bentley.  and  to  Scaliger  before  him." 
23 


266  AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

r 

maux  eats  raw  fish,  aud  drinks  whale  oil ;  i.  e.  these  are 
the  habits  of  his  life.  A  habit  is  also  expressed  by  the 
simple  verb  to  he  used  in  the  present  tense,  which  could 
not  be  expressed  in  any  other  mood;  as, 

"  I  knew  thou  art  a  hard  mau." — Matt.  xxv.  24. 

That  is,  I  knew  thee  to  he  a  hard  man  generally.  If 
•we  say  wert,  the  hardness  would  refer  to  a  particular 
occasion,  and  not  express  a  habit. 

An  unwarrantable  expression  has  of  late  years  been 
creeping  into  the  language,  more  particularly  in  light 
dialogue.  It  is  the  omission  of  the  adverb  Uiere  after 
have  heen. 

"  Seriously,  thouj^h,"  cnntinut'd  Lady  15ah,  "  vou  must,  and 
shall  go,  and  buy  sonu-  of  Fanny's  flowers.  I  need  only  toll  you, 
it  will  be  the  greatest  charity  you  ever  did,  and  then  1  know  you 
won't  rest  till  you  have  been." 

Have  been  (there). 

In  the  followingsentence  from  Rae  Wilson's  "Travels 
in  the  Uoly  Land,"  had  heen  is  omitted  altogether: — 

"No  respite  was  given;  but,  whenever  the  operation  ceased, 
the  whole  table  was  covered,  and  appeared  perfectly  black,  as  if 
HO  much  soot  thrown  upon  it." 

Had  heen  thrown  upon  it. 

Do. 

The  verb  do  occurs  both  as  a  principal  and  an  auxil- 
iary. When  used  as  a  principal,  it  is  usual  to  write 
doest,  and  not  d^jst ;  as, 

"  If  thou  doest  well,  shall  thou  not  be  accepted?  and  if  thou 
Ooest  not  well,  Bin  lieth  at  the  door." — Gai.  iv.  7. 

"  Which  floent  great  things  past  finding  out.' 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  267 

% 

Sometimes  the  auxiliary  do  stands  in  the  place  of  the 
principal  verb,  to  which  it  has  reference,  rendering  the 
repetition  of  that  verb  unnecessary;  as, 

"  He  loves  not  plays 
As  thou  dost."  Shakspeare. 

On  some  occasions,  do  and  didst  are  strikingly  em- 
phatic ;  as, 

"  Perdition  catch  my  soul, 
But  I  do  love  thee."  Ihid. 

"  Nay,  but  thou  didst  call  me." 

Having  reference  to  an  expressed  or  silent  negation,  as 
the  case  may  be, 

DonH  is  a  contraction  of  do  not,  and  not  of  does  not. 
Dorit  for  does  not  is  a  mere  vulgarism. 

"The  clock  don't  tick  as  it  goes." — Buhver's  England  and  the 
English. 

"It  were  an  intolerable  spectacle,  even  to  the  inmates  of  a 
felon's  cell,  did  they  behold  one  of  their  fellows  in  the  agonies 
of  death." — Chalmers'  Bridgewater  Treatise. 

It  ivould  be  an  intolerable  spectacle,  even  to  the 
inmates  of  a  felon's  cell,  should  they  behold,  or  were 
they  to  behold,  one  of  their  fellows  in  the  agonies  of 
death. 

ffave. 

The  variations  of  the  auxiliary  verb  to  have  are  have, 
hast,  hath  or  has,  and  hadst.  Doth  and  hath,  in  the 
place  of  does  and  has,  are  associated  with  serious  and 
solemn  subjects,  more  particularly  of  a  religious  kind. 
They  accord  with  the  date  and  character  of  Scripture 


268  AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

pliraseology.  Independent  of  their  use  on  solemn  oc- 
casions, there  are  a  peculiar  softness  and  tenderness  in 
the  use  of //i  in  the  place  of  5,  whether  in  the  auxiliary 
or  principal  verb.  Dolli  and  haih  are  sometimes  used 
in  the  place  of  does  and  Aos,  in  order  to  avoid  the  hiss- 
ing sound  arising  from  the  too  frequent  repetition  of 
the  letter  s. 

In  the  following  sentence  from  Dr.  Chalmers'  "Bridge- 
water  Treatise,"  haih  and  has  are  used  in  the  same 
sentence  without  any  reason  for  the  distinction  : — 

••It  is  for  their  sake  that  human  hiw  Imlli  interposed  in  some 
countries  of  the  world,  and  by  creating  and  ordaining  a  right  for 
thcni,  has  endeavored  to  make  good  the  deficiency  of  nature." 

Shakspearc,  "Richard  II.,"  even  uses  has  in  the 
second  person  singular  : — 

"Why,  uncle,  thou  has  many  years  to  live."' 

An  expression,  at  all  events,  not  to  be  tolerated  now. 

The  verb  lo  have  has  no  distinctive  form  whatever  in 
the  plural  number.  The  first,  second,  and  third  per- 
sons are  all  alike  in  the  several  tenses.  The  following 
sentence  affords  a  curious  example  of  "confusion  worse 
confounded"  in  the  use  of  this  verb; — 

"The  events  which  he  narrates  arc  authentic,  but  the  subject 
could  have  been  better  chosen,  and  /ui re  more  unity." — Fiithman 
on  Latin  Composition,  p.  l.Ti. 

Miijht  have  been  better  chosen,  and  have  had  more 
unity.  Again;  the  word  helte)'  ought  to  qualify  the 
subject,  and  not  the  act  of  choice.  The  aullior  ]iroba- 
bly  means  to  say,  that,  in  his  opinion,  "a  better  sub- 
ject, and  one  possessing  more  unity,  might  iiavc  been 
chosen." 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  269 

Td  rather  is  frequently  used  in  familiar  discourse  for 
I  icoulcl  rather,  and  not  for  I  had  rather.  I  had  rather 
is  a  mere  corruption,  arising  from  tlie  letter  d  forming 
the  final  sound  of  ivould  and  had. 

In  the  following  example  from  Coleridge,  "On  the 
Constitution  of  Church  and  State,"  page  68,  confusion 
arises  from  a  want  of  the  application  of  the  auxiliary 
verb  be: — 

"  I  do  assert  that  the  nationality  cannot  rightfully,  and  that 
without  foul  wrong  to  the  nation,  it  never  has  been  alienated 
from  its  original  purposes." 

It  is  evident  that  the  verb  be  is  here  wanting,  and  that 
the  word  has  been  cannot  grammatically  be  applied  both 
to  a  thing  past  and  a  thing  future  :  to  that  of  which  it 
is  declared  that  it  cannot  be  alienated;  and  that  of 
which  it  is  declared  that  it  never  has  been  alienated, 
without  foul  wrong  to  the  nation.  "I  do  assert  that 
the  nationality  cannot  rightfully  be  alienated  from  its 
original  purposes,  and  that,  without  foul  wrong  to  the 
nation,  it  never  has  been  so," 

Whenever  an  ellipsis  takes  place,  that  which  is  ex- 
pressed should  never  be  incongruous  with  that  which 
is  not  expressed.  The  phrase  never  has  been  in  this  case 
is  incongruous  with  cannot  rightfully  be.  "/  am,  and 
always  have  taken,  great  2^ttinsf^  that  is,  "I  am  taking, 
and  have  always  taken  great  pains."  Here  is  a  transi- 
tion from  the  present  to  a  past  time;  and  am  and  have, 
present  and  past,  are  auxiliaries  in  common  of  the  verb 
to  take — a  manifest  incongruity. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  upon  what  principle  Ilarris  con- 
structed the  following  sentence:  — 


2r 


i* 


270  AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

"  Now,  as  all  tho^o  sovpral  contacts,  unless  sonic  opcninpr  of 
the  mouth  either  immediately  precede,  or  immediately  fullow, 
would  rather  occasion  silence,  than  to  i^roduce  a  voice,"  <&c. 

AVhy  not  "  ratlicr  occasion  silence  than  produce  a  volce?^^ 
The  incongruity  arising  from  the  transition  from  one 
tense  to  another  is  remarkable,  and,  one  would  suppose, 
must  have  been  overlooked. 

JS/taU  and   Will. 

In  a  review  of  Justice  Brenan's  "Foreigner's  Eng- 
lish Conjugator,"  contained  in  the  Atlas  newspaper  of 
Jan.  23d,  1831,  the  following  observations  are  made  on 
the  subject  of  shall  and  u-ill: — 

"He  (IJrenan).  however,  has  not  removed  the  didiculty. 
There  is  no  general  rule  to  he  drawn  from  his  work.  In  the 
case  of  shall  and  uill  (says  the  reviewer),  let  us  try  to  supply 
this  deficiency.  IIV//  is  the  sipn  of  resolution,  mai/  of  possi- 
bility, can  of  ability,  must  of  necessity,  ought  of  propriety;  these 
have  all  a  view  to  the  future,  without  contingency.  Shall  sup- 
plies the  place  of  cither  (any  one)  of  these  signs,  when  the 
future  involves  a  doubt,  or  a  contingency,  especially  when  it  re- 
gards the  first  person.  Its  comparative  power  is  simple,  and  is 
never  abused  ;  its  contingent  force  alone  creates  the  difliculty. 
With  respect  to  human  life  ami  purpose,  doubt  is  the  very 
essence  of  futurity.  The  vivacity  of  the  southern  nations  con- 
founds irill  and  shall,  because  they  determine,  in  the  levity  of 
their  minds,  without  duulit  or  dread.  The  cautious  Knglish- 
muD  doubts  ever;  he  sees  contingency  in  the  future  ;  and  from 
this  peculiarity  of  the  national  mind  comes  a  tlelicary  of  ex- 
pression which  has  no  equivalent  in  any  other  language." 

This  is  rather  a  moral  than  a  grammatical  disquisition, 
and  leaves  the  subject  very  much  in  the  same  state  as 
we  found  it. 

Though   the  auxiliaries   sliall  mid    ?/•///,   in    certain 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  271 

positions,  are  very  different  in  their  meaning,  yet  they 
are  frequently  used  the  one  for  the  other,  as  exemplified 
in  the  trite  but  forcible  case  of  the  drowning  Irishman; 
"I  luill  be  drowned  and  nobody  shall  help  me  ;"  and 
it  is  a  common  expression  used  by  an  Irish  servant, 
"  Shall  you  take  tea  to-night,  and  will  I  bring  it  in  ?" 

The  Scotch  are  also  apt  to  confound  the  use  of  shall 
and  icill;  as, 

"  "Without  having  attended  to  this,  we  ivill  be  at  a  loss,  in  un- 
derstanding several  passages  in  the  classics,  which  relate  to 
public  speaking  and  the  theatrical  entertainments  of  the  an- 
cients."— Blair's  Lectures. 

"  In  the  Latin  language  there  are  no  two  words  we  ivould  more 
readily  take  to  be  synonymous  than  amare  and  diligere." — Ibid. 

Shall  and  should  are  required. 

"Think  what  reflection  shall  most  probably  arise." — Ibid. 

Will  is  here  required. 

"If  I  draw  a  catgut,  or  any  other  cord,  to  a  great  length  be- 
tween my  fingers,  I  ivill  make  it  smaller  than  it  was  before." — 
Goldsmith. 

Shall 

"  There  is  not  a  girl  in  town,  but  let  her,  in  going  to  a  mask, 
and  she  shall  dress  as  a  shepherdess." — Spectator. 

Will 

A  well-educated  Englishman,  however,  seldom  makes 
a  mistake  in  the  application  o?  shall  and  will,  though  it 
may  sometimes  be  necessary  to  feel  the  way,  as  it  were, 
by  a  delicate  touch.  There  must  be,  and  is,  a  broad 
principle  of  distinction.  In  the  modest  language  of  the 
reviewer  just  referred  to,  let  us  try  to  find  it.  From 
example,  let  us  endeavor  to  work  out  the  principle. 


272  AUXILIARY  VERB.^. 

I  5/<a?/ ^0  to  town  to-morrow.  Here  simply  the  in- 
tention of  doing  a  certain  thing  is  expressed,  without 
any  anticipation  of,  or  reference  to,  hinderance.  But 
when  I  say  I  tcill  go  to  town  to-morrow,  I  declare  my 
resolution  to  do  so,  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  I  must 
and  idll  go  to  town  to-morrow.  Now,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  that,  in  both  these  cases,  the  j^^^'son  that  speaks 
is  also  the  person  that  is  about  to  act.  lie,  therefore, 
at  pleasure,  expresses  an  act  of  simple  volition,  or  of 
Jixed  pmrpose,  according  to  circumstances.  Both  are 
at  his  own  option;  he  has  the  control  of  both  in  his  own 
mind.  But,  when  we  pass  to  the  second  ]^erson,  thou 
shah  or  icilt,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that,  though  the 
second  person  is  the  actor,  the  first  is  still  the  speaker. 
If,  therefore,  the  acting  of  the  second  person  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  will  of  the  first,  the  Jirst  person  says  to 
the  second,  thou  shall,  and  not  thou  wilt,  for  the  willing 
rests  with  iho  first ;  but  if  the  first  leaves  the  second  to 
act  as  he  may  think  proper,  he  says  thou  icilt,  and  thus 
claims  no  control  over  that  willing.  Again;  in  the  third 
person,  he  shall  or  he  will,  we  still  see  the  same  principle. 
"When  the  first  says  he  shall,  he  deprives  the  third  of 
the  exercise  of  his  own  will ;  but  when  he  says  he  will, 
he  leaves  him  the  exercise  of  that  will,  and  simjily  ex- 
presses his  belief  that  it  is  tlic  intention  or  icill  of  the 
third  pcnson  to  do  this  or  that. 

U'he  principle  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  the  distinction 
of  shall  and  icill  is,  that  it  is  always  the  first  person 
that  speaks;  and  that,  in  the  first  ^)t'rAWi  cf  tlie  verb,  the 
speaker  is  also  the  agent;  but  that  in  the  second  and 
third,  the  first  person  is  the  spteaker,  but  the  second  or 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  273 

third  the  agent.  Hence,  as  volition  is  allowed  to  the 
second  or  third  person,  or  control  exercised  over  that 
volition,  the  use  of  will  and  shall  must  vary  in  passing 
from  the  first  to  the  second  and  third  persons. 

When,  however,  we  pass  to  the  interrogative  forms 
of  shall  and  ivill,  the  case  is  reversed.  In  the  second 
person  of  the  verb,  we  simply  inquire  what  the  will  of 
that  person  is,  the  act  of  volition  remaining  in  the 
breast  of  that  person,  and  not  being  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  person  asking.  We  therefore  say,  icilt 
thou?  or  ivill  you?  In  the  third  person  of  the  verb, 
again,  the  act  of  willing  remains  with  that  person,  and 
we  simply  ask  for  an  enunciation  of  that  will;  as,  will 
he  ?  if  plural,  \uill  they  ?  Thus :  Shall  I  go  to  London  ? 
wilt  thou  go?  tvill  he  go?  shall  we  go?  will  you  go? 
will  they  go  ? 

This  distinction  of  shall  and  will  does  not  form  a  part 
of  the  system  of  a  Latin  or  a  Greek  verb. 

The  verb  will  is  also  a  principal,  as  well  as  an  auxil- 
iary. As,  /  ivill,  thou  ivillest,  he  wills,  ive  ivill,  ye  or 
you  will,  they  will.  A  confusion  of  will  as  a  principal 
and  an  auxiliary  occurs  in  the  following  passage  from 
Atterbury's  "Sermons:" — 

"  Thou  that  art  the  author  and  bcstower  of  life  canst  doubtless 
restore  it  also  if  thou  wilVst,  and  when  thou  ivill'st;  but  whether 
thou  wiU'st  please  to  restore  it,  or  not,  thou  alone  knowest." 

Here  ivilVst  in  the  two  former  cases  is  a  principal,  in 
the  last  an  auxiliary,  and  ought  to  be  wilt,  and  not 
wilVst  or  wiliest ;  that  is,  but  whether  thou  wilt  restore 
them  or  not,  &;c. 


274  AL'XILIAIIY  VERBS. 

Would  And  Should. 

Would  expresses  volition,  and  lias  reference  either  to 
time  past,  or  present.  "/  would  do  it,  were  I  in  your 
situation,"  expresses  a  present  inclination  with  reference 
to  a  future  action,  the  pronoun  /  being  emphatic  and 
contradistinctivc.  "I  u-otdd  do  it,"  with  the  emphasis 
on  uould,  expresses  a  present  feeling  and  determination 
to  have  done  a  thing  with  reference  to  a  particular  time 
passed;  that  is,  I  uoidd,  at  that  time,  do  it — I  was  de- 
termined  to  do  it. 

Should  expresses  duty,  a  sense  of  obligation  ;  "  I 
should  do  it,"  i.  c.,  all  things  considered,  I  feel  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  do  it.  In  the  same  sense  also  we  use  I 
should  have  done  it,  ou;/ht  to  have  done  it.  Should, 
with  a  future  subjunctive  signification,  expresses  a 
simple  contingency:  as,  "If  he  should  do  it,  that  will 
be  sufficient:"  whereas  the  exi)ression,  if  he  uould  do 
it,  has  a  stringent  reference  to  volition,  as  well  as  to 
contingency;  as,  "if  he  tvould  but  do  it,  I  should  bo 
satisfied,"  the  term  u-ould  being  .expressive  of  a  sup- 
po.sed  aversion  on  his  part.  The  operations  of  tho 
mind,  as  far  as  the  u.se  of  these  auxiliaries  is  concerned, 
arc  generally  expressed  with  sufficient  accuracy,  accord- 
ing to  the  drift  of  the  sentence,  and  the  intentions  of 
the  speaker. 

Kither,  however,  should  and  xcould  have  changed 
their  meaning  in  the  following  passages  from  the  Psalms, 
or  their  application  is  erroneous:  — 

•  If  1  uuuhl  (Ictluro  tliem,  ami  sjicuk  of  tlicin,  Ihcy  are  more 
tlian  cun  be  numbered." — Bible  versiun,  Psalm  xl.  5. 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  275 

"  If  I  should  declare  them,  and  sjieak  of  them,  they  should  be 
more  than  I  am  able  to  exjiress." — Prayer  Book,  Psalm  xl.  6. 

The  sense  required  in  the  first  case  is  that  of  a  sim- 
ple contingency,  without  any  express  volition.  We 
therefore  expect,  "7^"  I  should  declare  ihem,''^  and  not 
"7/"  -^  icould  declare  them}'-  Again:  "If  I  should  de- 
clare them,  and  speak  of  them,  they  should  be  more 
than  I  am  able  to  express."  lliey  icould  he  more,  and 
not  should^  because  should  in  this  case  would  indicate  a 
latent  reason  why  they  should  be  more,  instead  of  a 
simple  contingency.  If  I  should  declare  them,  and 
speak  of  them,  they  should,  that  is,  ought,  according  to 
all  reasonable  calculation,  to  be  more  than  I  am  able  to 
express.  But  this  is  not  what  is  meant.  Let  us  take 
the  following  example:  "  Were  he  to  do  such  a  thing 
in  England,  he  would  be  hanged."  Would  be  hanged 
here  indicates  a  necessary  result,  without  assigning  or 
implying  any  reason  for  such  a  result.  But  if  I  say, 
"  Were  he  to  do  such  a  thing  in  England,  he  should  be 
hanged,"  we  see  that  a  reason  is  implied  why  he  should 
be  hanged.  lie  should  be  hanged,  that  is,  oiight  to  be 
hanged,  either  because  it  is  an  aggravation  of  the  of- 
fence that  it  is  committed  in  England,  or  because,  accord- 
ing to  the  scale  of  punishment  in  England,  the  offence 
ought  to  be  punished  by  hanging. 

"  In  judging  only  from  the  nature  of  things,  and  without  the 
surer  aid  of  Revelation,  one  shoidd  be  apt  to  embrace  the  opinion 
of  Diodorus  Siculus." — Warburton's  Divine  Legation. 

Would. 

"This  man  was  taken  of  the  Jews,  and  should  have  been  killed 
of  them."— Acts  xxiii.  27. 


276  AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

Shotild  in  tins  situation  would  now  mean  ou^h(, — owjht 
to  have  been  killed;  in  modern  phraseology,  jrouW /tare 
lecji  killed  by  them. 

"  O  had  it  been  a  stranger,  not  my  child, 
To  smooth  his  fault,  I  should  have  been  more  mild." 

SlIAKSrEARE. 

^Vonhl  have  been  more  kind  is  the  signification  which 
first  presents  itself;  but  should  is  defensible,  as  bearing 
a  signification  dift'erent  from  ivould.  Wonld^  in  this 
case,  would  express  resolution  ;  i.  e.  though  a  stranger 
and  not  my  child,  still  in  spite  of  thai  I  wonhl  have 
been  more  mild.  Should,  on  the  other  hand,  would  ex- 
press a  simple  intention. 

The  following  sentence  from  Psalm  cvi.  23,  is  a  good 
example  of  the  proper  use  of  nvuld  and  should: — 

"So  he  said  he  iroiild  have  destroyed  them,  had  not  Moses  his 
chosen  stood  before  him  in  the  pap  to  turn  away  his  wrathful  in- 
dignation, lest  he  should  destroy  them." 

So  he  said,  after  the  occasion  had  pa.sscd  away,  that  he 
uo'ild  on  that  occasion  have  destroyed  them,  had  not 
Moses  stood  before  him,  lest  ho  should  destroy  them; 
not,  should  liave  destroyed  tliem,  an  expression  which 
would  place  the  prevention  subseqicent  to  the  supposed 
act. 

"'I'his  was  a  tiling  deeply  resented;  and  to  have  sjtoken  to  me 
about  the  mauuscri|)ts  hud  been  to  lo.sc  a  ])lausible  occasion  of 
taking  revenge." — UtiUky,  Preface  to  Dissertation  on  Epistle  of 
J'liuhiriH. 

Would  have  been. 

"If  he  had  writ  me  word  the  very  ue.xt  post  *  *.  this  hud  been 
just  und  civil." — Jbid. 

Wo u Id  hove  been. 


AUXILIARY  VERBS.  277 

Might. 
May  Tefora  to  ?i  present  or  ^future  privilege,  mi^r/i^ 
to  a  past  one.     As,  he  is  attentive  in  order  that  he  may 
learn  ;  he  ^cillho.  attentive  in  order  that  he  may  learn ; 
he  was  attentive  in  order  that  he  might  learn. 

"  Let  us  therefore  reflect  how  a  serious  and  attentive  study  of 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  best  ansiver  the  great  end  for 
which  they  were  written,  namely,  that  we,  through  patience  and 
comfort  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  might  have  hope." — RenneVs  Ser- 
mons. 

There  are,  in  this  sentence,  three  grammatical  errors, 
two  of  which  are  chargeable  upon  the  author,  and  one 
on  the  quotation.  The  first  is  of  minor  importance, 
and  occurs  so  frequently  in  various  authors,  as  to  have 
some  claim  to  justification — "a  serious  and  attentive," 
instead  of  a  serious  and  an  attentive.  The  second  is 
ansiver  instead  of  answers ;  a  serious  and  an  attentive 
study  ansicers,  not  ansiver.  The  third  error  consists  in 
the  use  o?  might  instead  of  may.  The  Scriptures  were 
written  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort  of  those 
Holy  Scriptures,  may  have  hope.  They  were  written, 
that  ages  that  have  preceded  us  might  have  hope,  that 
tve  may  have  hope,  that  future  generations  may  have 
hope.  Speaking  of  the  past,  we  should  say  might ;  of 
the  present,  or  the  future,  may. 

*'  And  Jesus  answered  and  said,  What  wilt  thou  that  I  should 
do  unto  thee?  The  blind  man  said  unto  him,  Lord,  that  I  might 
receive  my  sight." — Mark  x.  51. 

3fay  receive. 

Can  and  Must. 

The  auxiliary  verb  can,  under  its  different  forms, 
24 


278  REMARKS  OX  THE  AUXILIARIES. 

is  seklom  misapplietl ;  and  jmist  aflbrds  the  curious 
grammatical  phenomenon  of  a  verb  without  a  single 
variation. 

Ourjht. 

Ought  is  not  an  auxiliary,  but  a  jvimari/  verb.  We 
cannot  connect  it  with  another  verb  simply  ;  as,  I  ought 
go,  I  ought  write,  in  the  same  way  as  we  can  say,  I 
should  go,  1  should  wnle.  It  must  be  connected  with 
the  verb  that  follows  in  the  same  way  as  any  other 
principal  verb  must  be,  by  the  particle  to; — I  ought  to 
go;  I  ought  to  write. 


Cn  APTKR  ITT. 

GENERAL  REMARKS  OX  THE  AUXILIARIES, 

In  Knglish,  we  have  as  many  moods  as  we  have  auxil- 
iary verbs,  allowing  these  verbs  to  be  auxiliariis,  and 
not  j^rmci'pals  ;  for  every  auxiliary  verb  in  tlie  language 
cxpres.ses  some  modification  of  action,  or  volition,  or 
condition,  wliich  cannot  be  so  well  expressed  in  any 
other  way,  and  thus  constitutes  a  separate  mode  or 
mood,  For  instance,  I  tvrite  verses  is  an  indefinite 
aorist  of  the  present  time,  and  implies  a  lial)it;  1  do 
write  verses  is  a  decisive  assertion  in  opposition  to  an 
expressed  or  latent  doubt ;  I  am  meriting  verses  is  a 
present  imperfect  tense  ;  I  am  now  in  the  act  of  writing 
verses.  Now  wc  havcherc  tlirec  distinct  significations, 
all  included  under  the  indicative  mood  present  tense; 
and  distinct  as  they  are,  there  is  but  one  word  in  Latin 


REMARKS  ON  THE  AUXILIARIES,  279 

to  express  the  indicative  mood  present  tense,  namely, 
scribo,  which  falls  far  short  of  the  nice  discriminations 
of  the  English  auxiliaries.  The  auxiliaries  may,  ca7i, 
mighty  ivould,  could,  should,  ought,  have,  had,  shall, 
zuill,  kc,  aSbrd  greater  precision  in  the  expression  of 
various  shades  of  meaning  than  is  attainable  by  the  use 
of  single  and  unaided  terms.  They  possess  an  elasti- 
city which  adapts  itself  with  ease  to  the  extension  or 
contraction  of  our  ideas,  and  the  varied  modifications 
under  which  they  present  themselves.  How  shall  we 
translate  into  Latin,  and  by  one  word  only,  I  have  been 
going  to  write?  As,  I  am  glad  I  have  met  you,  for  / 
have  been  going  to  ivrite  to  you  for  some  time  past ;  or,  / 
have  been  writing ;  or,  /  had  been  writing ;  or,  /  shall  or 
will  have  been  writing.  Such  expressions  may  seem 
encumbered  with  expletives;  nevertheless,  these  exple- 
tives clearly  and  definitely  express  our  meaning,  when 
properly  applied.  Mr.  Pickbourn  has  pointed  out  that 
we  have  no  less  than  eight  future  tenses  or  forms  of 
expressing  future  time;  four  of  these  express  time 
simply;  as,  I  shall  write,  I  will  write,  I  shall  be  writ- 
ing, I  will  be  writing.  In  eaeh  of  these  forms  of  ex- 
pression, we  clearly  recognize  a  distinction  of  meaning; 
yet  their  equivalent  in  Latin  is  simply  scribam — a  poor 
equivalent,  it  must  be  confessed.  The  other  four,  I 
shall  have  been  writing,  I  will  have  been  writing,  I 
shall  have  written,  I  will  have  written,  express  future 
time  in  a  more  complex  manner,  as  antecedent  to  some 
definite  future  period,  pointed  out  by  some  other  word 
or  member  of  the  sentence.  The  English  language  is 
often  blamed  for  want  of  defiuiteness.     Let  us  first 


280  THE  NEUTER  VERB. 

learn  to  make  a  proper  use  of  our  tools  before  we  com- 
plain of  their  inapplicability  to  the  work  which  wo 
have  in  hand. 


CllArTER   IV. 

THE  NEUTER  VERB. 

By  a  neuter  verb  is  meant  a  verb  that  has  neither  an 
active  nor  a  jyassive  signification.  1'hc  action  of  the 
verb  is  not  transitive.  It  does  not  pass  on  to  the  fol- 
lowing noun,  unless  that  noun  has  an  identity  of  meaning 
with  the  verb  itself,  or  unless  the  expression  may  be 
grammatically  resolved  into  a  verb,  preposition  and 
noun.  To  dream  a  dream  would  be  an  example  of  the 
first  case;  to  ivalk  a  mile  of  the  second,  that  is,  over  the 
space  of  a  mile.  This,  in  fact,  is  a  mere  elliptical  ex- 
pression. The  neuter  verb  properly  has  no  object,  the 
action  of  the  verb  being  limited  to  itself.  It  cannot, 
therefore,  be  followed  hy  the  objective  case.  The  child 
cries^  gives  us  an  example  of  a  simjde  neuter  verb.  The 
sense  is  complete.  But,  if  we  say  the  child  destroys^ 
we  necessarily  suppose  something  destroyed,  that  some- 
thing being  the  object  upon  which  the  action  of  the 
verb  or  the  destructive  agency  falls,  and  therefore  in 
the  objective  case.  j\s,  the  child  destroys  Jus  i^Jaythings. 
A  neuter  verb,  then,  has  no  transitive  signification,  and 
its  character  is  happily  designated  in  Greek  by  the 
word  avTortaOno,  autopathy. 

Neuter  verbs  have  the  same  construction  as  verbs 


THE  NEUTER  VERB.  281 

which  simply  indicate  a  state  of  being.  Coesar  is 
Emperor,  or  the  Emperor  is  Ca3sar,  are  convertible  pro- 
positions, and  both  the  nouns  are  in  the  same  case. 

"  "While  his  lovelocks  descended  a  gohlen-shower." 

Savage,  Wanderer,  canto  iv. 
"  Which  rose  a  stately  colonnade."  Ibid. 

His  lovelocks,  as  they  descended,  were  a  golden 
shower. 

The  building,  as  it  rose,  was  a  stately  colonnade. 

Neuter  Verbs  improperly  used  actively. 
Pope  claims  an  unwarrantable  license  when  he  con- 
verts the  neuter  verb  success  into  an  active  one : — 

"  How  would  the  gods  my  righteous  toils  succeed  !" 

Odyssey,  xiv.  447. 

"  If  Jove  this  arm  succeed."  Iliad. 

"  The  heroes  pray'd,  and  Pallas  from  the  skies 
Eecords  their  vows — succeeds  their  enterprise." 

Iliad,  X.  351. 

That  is,  makes  it  to  succeed.  Succeed,  as  an  active 
verb,  is  utterly  unwarrantable. 

Equally  unwarrantable  is  the  term  approaches,  used 
actively  by  Bulwer: — 

"  This  is  true  power,  it  approaches  men  to  gods." — England 
and  the  English. 

AVhat  do  we  think  of  approach  the  candle  to  me  ? 
"  You  rejoice  me." — Dr.  Wharton. 
"  He  retired  the  army  behind  the  river." 

"  Me  of  these 
Not  skill'd  or  studious  higher  argument 
Remains."  Paradise  Lost,  book  ix. 

That  is,  higher  argument  remavis  me — to  me  surely. 

24* 


282  TIIK  NEUTER  VERB. 

If  we  do  not  consider  the  expression  ^^  remains  Twe"  as 
elliptical,  and  standing  in  the  place  of  remains  to  me, 
it  is  a  liberty  which  even  Milton  was  not  justified  in 
taking.  When  large  fishes  break  through  the  meshes 
of  the  net,  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  small  fry 
should  follow  them. 

Active  Verbs  improperly  used  as  Neuter. 

'•  I  must  prfmisc  with  three  circumstances." — Stcift. 
"Those  that  think  to/«(/ra/i'a/c  with  him  by  calumniating  me." 
— Bentley. 

Premise  three  circumstances.     Ingratitate  themselves. 

Neuter  Verb  To  Lie. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  verb  in  the  English  language, 
in  the  use  of  which  so  much  ignorance  is  manifested, 
as  in  the  confusion  of  the  active  verb  to  lay  with  the 
neuter  verb  to  lie.  "lie  lays  this  book  down  on  the 
table,  and  then  the  book  lies  on  the  table;"  lay  being 
an  active  transitive  verb,  and  the  object  on  which  that 
action  falls,  or  to  which  it  extends,  being  the  word  boolc. 
Lies,  on  the  other  hand,  being  a  neuter  intransitive  verb, 
simply  expresses  a  condition.  Lies,  the  neuter  verb, 
in  the  imperfect  past  tense  makes  lay:  as  when  I  saw 
the  book,  it  lay  on  the  table.  The  following  examples 
embrace  the  diflcrence  in  the  signification  of  these  two 
words: — 

Present  Tense  of  Lie. 

"  Eight  fork}-  arrows  from  his  lianil  have  fli-d, 
And  eight  Ijold  heroes  by  their  point*  lie  ilond." 

IlinH.  viii.  .tr.l. 


THE  NEUTER  VERB.  283 

"  When  Jesus  saw  him  lie.'" — John  v.  6. 
That  is,  to  lie. 

"  And  seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie." — John  xxii.  6. 
Again,  to  lie  ;  elliptical, 

"  Though  now  they  lie 
Grovelling  and  prostrate  on  yon  lake  of  fire." 

Paradise  Lost. 

These  are  examples  of  the  i->resent  tense  of  tlie  neuter 
verb  to  lie. 

Past  Tense. 

"  Then  the  king  arose  and  tore  his  garments,  and  lay  on  the 
earth." — 2  Samuel  xiii.  2. 

"  Nine  times  the  space,  that  measured  day  and  night 
To  mortal  man,  he  with  his  horrid  crew 
Lay  vanquish'd."  Paradise  Lost,  book  i. 

"  Unwept,  unhonor'd,  on  the  plain  he  lay, 
While  the  proud  victor  bore  his  arms  away." 

Pope,  Iliad. 

These  are  examples  of  the  past  tense  of  the  neuter 
verb  to  lie. 

Participle  of  the  Neuter  Verb  To  Lie. 

He  lies  upon  straw  now,  he  lay  upon  straw  last  night, 
he  is  said  to  have  ZVen,  or  ?am,  upon  straw  last  night. 

"  For  now  would  I  have  lain  still,  and  been  quiet." — Job  iii.  13. 
"  Though  ye  have  lien  among  the  pots." — Psalm  Ixviii.  13. 
"  See  where  thou  hast  been  lien  with." — Jer.  iii.  2. 

Lien  icith,  a  passive  participle  of  a  neuter  verb,  effected 
by  the  conjoint  efficacy  of  the  preposition  tvifh. 


28 i  IIIKEGULAR  VERBS. 

Active  Verb  To  Lay. 

"  Xo  more  with  presents  her  embraces  meet. 
Or  hit/  the  spoils  of  contjucst  at  her  feet." 

Jliad,  xi.  3. 

The  active  verb  to  lay  admits  a  passive  form.  As  / 
lay  the  book  down,  the  book  is  layed  or  laid  down,  the 
book  has  been  layed  or  laid  down. 

'•  0  that  my  jrriefs  were  weighed,  and  my  calamity  laid  in  the 
balances  together  ?"' — Job. 


CHAPTER   V. 

IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

The  whole  nnmber  of  verbs  in  tlic  Kn<rli.sh  lanffuaf^e. 
regular  and  irregular,  simple  and  compound,  is  esti- 
mated at  about  4,300.  The  whole  number  of  irregular 
verbs,  defective  included,  is  about  177.  The  ungram- 
niatical  use  of  some  of  the  most  striking  of  these  will 
here  be  noticed.  Irregular  verbs  are  such  as  draw, 
drew,  drawn; /a//,  fell,  fallen;  take,  took,  taken;  sil, 
sate,  sitten  ;  begin,  began,  begun,  &c.  Defective,  such 
as  may,  miyhl,  can,  could,  shall,  should,  must.  'JMie 
past  tenses  of  these  verbs,  and  the  pa.ssive  participles, 
arc  so  perpetually  confounded  and  mutilated,  that  they 
exhibit  a  perfect  grammatical  slaughter-hou.'je.  Sliaks- 
pcare,  Addison,  Swift,  Pope,  Milton,  Drydcn,  and  Attcr- 
bury.  Prior,  Gay,  Sterne,  Gibbon,  l^yron,  and  a  ho.st 
of  others,  uj)  to  the  present  day,  violate  a  ))rinciplo 
which  is  obvious  to  tlm  merest  school-boy  in  writing 


lEREGULAR  VERBS.  285 

any  other  language  than  his  own.  The  man  of  vege- 
tables says,  "  Potatoes  is  rose  or  riz,  and  turnips  isfelV 
The  language  serves  his  purpose,  and  more  is  not  ex- 
pected ;  but  men  of  high  literary  character  should  take 
care  not  to  mislead  by  corrupt  example.  There  is  not 
one  iota  of  difference  between  I  had  drank,  and  I  had 
knew,  I  had  rode,  and  I  had  blew,  I  have  sat,  and  I 
have  gave,  a  web  was  wove,  and  a  stone  was  threw.  In 
such  cases  as  these,  the  error  may  be  more  palpable 
than  in  ordinary  cases ;  but  there  is  not  the  slightest 
difference  in  degree.  In  prose  composition,  there  can 
be  no  excuse.  It  is,  perhaps,  to  the  poets  that  we  in 
some  degree  owe  these  solecisms ;  for  the  perfect  tense 
of  the  verb  in  the  place  of  the  participle  frequently 
offers  a  convenient  rhyme,  which  the  particle  would 
not  supply.     As  Pope : —  ^ 


"  Rapt  into  future  times,  the  bard  begun, 
A  virgin  shall  conceive,  a  virgin  bear  a  son. 


^lessiah. 


"At  length  he  roll'd  in  dust,  and  thus  begun, 
Imi^loring  all,  and  naming  one  by  one."         Iliad,  xxii. 

"  Doom'd  from  the  hour  his  luckless  life  begun, 
To  dogs  and  vultures,  and  to  Peleus'  son."  Ibid. 

"  In  the  fat  age  of  pleasure,  wealth,  and  ease. 
Sprung  the  rank  weed,  and  thriv'd  (throve)  with  large  increase." 

Pope,  Essay  on  Criticism. 

Not  satisfied  with  using  the  participle  in  the  place  of 
the  verb.  Pope  also  uses  the  verb  in  the  place  of  the 
participle : — 

"  And  now  the  years  a  numerous  train  have  ran. 
The  blooming  boy  is  ripen'd  into  man."  Odifsset/. 


236  IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

In  the  following  couplet,  grammar  and  rhyme  fortu- 
nately coincide : — 

"  Near  as  he  tlrow,  the  warrior  thus  began, 
0  great  Ulysses  !  much-enduring  man."  J  Had. 

"We  see,in  thcseexamplcs,  bow  unscrupulously  grammar 
is  sacriGccd  to  rhyme  : — 

"  From  liberty  each  nobler  science  sprung  (sprang), 
A  Bacon  brightcn'd  and  a  Spenser  sung  (sang)." 

Savagk,  Wanderer. 

'•  And  with  my  years  my  soul  begun  (began)  to  pant 
With  feeling  of  strange  tumult,  and  soft  pain." 

Uyrox,  Lament  of  Tasso. 

"Without  the  apology  of  rhyme,  Dryden  says,  "  have 
sauf/''  (sung);  Montgomery,  "could  he  not  have  5a/?y" 
(sung);  Rowe,  "since  time  bejiai"  (began).  Vet  a  lew 
lines  further  on,  he  says: — 

"From  hills  they  taught  how  melting  currents  ran. 
When  the  first  swelling  of  the  Hood  began."  (right) 

Pharsalia. 

Here  it  is  obvious  that  no  grammatical  principle  has 
been  kept  in  view. 

"  An<l  all  the  city  was  moved,  and  the  people  rttn  together." — 
Acts  xxi.  30. 

"  He  began  to  curse  and  swear." 

"Now  the  first  man  who  began  to  speak." — Mmthuihln,  Origin 
and  Progress  u/  Languagr. 

]n  these  examples,  the  imperfect  tense  of  the  verb  is  of 
cour.se  used  with  propriety. 

"  At  the  close  of  sudi  a  folio  as  this,  wrote  (written)  for  their 
sake." — Sfernr. 


IKREGULAR  VERBS.  287 

"I  satisfied  the  cravings  of  hunger  with  bread  and  water, 
which,  I  may  add,  was  ate  in  a  filthy  stable." — Burnes's  Travels. 

This  is  gross  indeed.  Was  ate  !  I  eat  now,  I  ate  yes- 
terday, the  dinner  "was  eaten  in  a  filthy  stable."  So 
I  sit  now,  I  sate  yesterday,  I  had  sitlein  down. 

"The  Queen,  bound  with  love's  powerful  charm, 
Sate  with  Pigwiggen,  arm  in  arm." 

Dkayton's  Polyolhion. 

"  Many  a  time 
On  holidays  we  rambled  through  the  woods, 
"We  sate — we  walk'd."  "Wordsworth,  Wanderer. 

Right  in  both  examples.  Sit,  sate,  sitten;  bid,  hade, 
bidden. 

"A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  hade  many,  and 
sent  his  servant  at  supper  time  to  say  to  them  that  were  hidden." 
— Luke  xiv.  17. 

Dr.  Thirlwall,  Bishop  of  St.  David's  (History  of 
Greece),  uses  had  falsely  in  the  place  of  hade. 

"I,  like  the  arch-fiend,  bore  a  hell  within  nic,  and  finding 
myself  unsympathizcd  with,  wished  to  tear  up  the  trees,  and 
spread  havoc  and  destruction  along  with  me,  and  then  to  have 
sat  down  and  enjoyed  the  ruin." — Frankenstein. 

"  To  have  sai"  is  here  doubly  wrong.  Grammatically, 
sat  ought  to  be  sitten.  As  a  matter  of  sense,  this  also 
would  be  wrong;  for  the  fiend  wished  to  tear  up  the 
trees,  to  spread  havoc  and  destruction  around  him,  and 
then  to  do  what?  to  sit  down  and  enjoy  the  ruin  ;  for 
the  act  of  sitting  down  and  enjoying  the  ruin  was  pos- 
terior to  the  other  acts,  and  certainly  posterior  to  tlic 
wish.  As  well  might  we  say,  "  I  wished  to  have  gone 
to  London,"  which  means  I  wished  to  do  something 


288  IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

anterior  to  ray  wish  to  do  it.  But  were  we  to  assimilate 
this  expression  to  the  one  in  question,  we  must  say,  "I 
wished  to  have  iceut  to  London," 

"In  tbc  middle  of  one  night  in  September,  I  awoke  from 
sleep,  in  a  breathless  and  burninfr  heat,  tlioiiirh  1  was  conscious 
that  I  had  neither  ate  nor  draitk  au} tiling  that  ought  to  have 
fevered  me." — CampbdVs  Letters  from  the  Suuth,  vol.  i.  p.  182. 

"  Neither  ealen  nor  drunhr 

"  In  the  ways  hast  thou  sat  for  them,  as  the  Arabian  in  the 
wikleraess." — Jtr.  iii.  '1. 

Sitlen. 

Lowth  gives  some  examples  of  the  proper  use  of  sillen 
instead  o{ sat: — 

"The  army  having sitten  there  so  long." — liah-igh. 

"Which  was  enough  to  make  him  stir  that  would  not  have 
sitten  still." — Raleigh. 

"That  no  parliament  should  be  dissolved  till  it  had  sitten  five 
months." — Jlobbes. 

"To  havp  sitten  on  the  heads  of  the  apostles —  to  have  sitten 
upon  each  of  them." — Dr.  Middlvtoii. 

He  at  ttie  same  time  points  out  the  impropriety  of 
using  set  in  the  place  of  sit^  the  former  being  an  active 
verb  signifying  to  ^j/«ce,  the  latter  a  neuter  verb  simj)ly 
expressive  of  condition.  To  set,  or  to  be  set,  or  was 
set,  is  not  in  any  way  expressive  of  posture.  A  person 
set  down  might  stand  or  lie,  or  sit;  and,  as  xaOiaavxoi 
ovrou  cxprcs.ses  a  particular  posture,  namely,  that  of 
isittirtfj,  was  set,  is  set,  or  any  other  form  of  tlie  verb  to 
set,  cannot  be  a  correct  translation  of  the  terms  xa'Aaorroj 

avTOv. 


IRREGULAR  VERBS.  289 

"  Full  in  their  eyes  the  dazzling  flashes  broke, 
And  with  amaze  their  troubled  senses  stroke." 

Eowe's  Translation  of  Lucax's  Pharsalia, 

b.  vii.  1.  237. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  strohe  is  here  used  in  the 
sense  of  struck — that  is,  struck  their  senses  with  amaze 
— an  expression  which  violates  sense  and  grammar. 
We  cannot  suppose  that  the  poet  means  stroke  in  the 
sense  of  to  stroke,  but  in  the  sense  of  to  strike.  Stroke 
is,  therefore,  ambiguous,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is 
ungrammatical.  It  ought  to  be  struck,  which  would 
have  been  somewhat  injurious  to  the  rhyme. 

These  corruptions,  arising  out  of  the  use  of  the  per- 
fect tense  of  the  verb  in  the  place  of  the  participle,  are 
as  "plentiful  as  leaves  in  Yallambrose."  They  are 
profusely  scattered  over  our  literature,  and,  with  various 
other  blunders,  show  that  men  of  great  ability,  and 
great  critical  attainments  in  the  classics,  had  never  paid 
a  proper  attention  to  the  grammatical  structure  of 
their  mother-tongue.  A  few  out  of  thousands  may  be 
given : — 

"  But  at  the  close  of  such  a  folio  as  this,  wrote  for  their  sakes." 
— Sterne. 

"  That  cracks,  as  if  the  axis  of  the  world 
Was  broke."  Blackmore. 

"  That  no  part  useless,  none  misplaced  we  see. 
None  s^xQ  forgot."  Ibid. 

"  Lo  I  Pan  himself,  beneath  the  blasted  oak, 
Dejected  lies,  his  pipe  in  pieces  broke."  Coxgreve. 

"The  camp  was  almost  immediately  broke  up." — Gibbon. 

Milton   uses  have  spoke,  words   interwove,  have  chose, 
25 


290  irul:gular  verbs. 

jiath  lore,  had  slole^  liail  roda^  was  took:  Addison,  had 
dianl\  has  tcroie^  was  broke:  Swift,  liad  rose,  have  sloky 
have  mislooh;  Bolingbroke,  has  been  sliook ;  Atterbury, 
io  ha  si loolc :  Prior,  have /t'Z//  Gray,  lias  Z>e/c/Z;  Bentley, 
liave  ivrote,  (though  in  another  place  have  tvrilten,) 
and  has  rose.  Atterbury  says,  have  spranrj,  instead  of 
sprxing ;  Clarendon,  had  spolce,  had  her/an;  Shakspearc, 
have  sivam. 

Some  of  our  verbs,  which  terminate  alike  in  the  pre- 
sent tense,  are  extremely  arbitrary  in  the  formation  of 
the  other  tenses  and  of  the  participle ;  as,  sjnt,  spat, 
spitten;  sit,  sat,  sit  ten ;  yet  we  say ,  fit,  fitted,  fitted  ;  hit, 
hit,  hit;  as,  I  hit  the  mark,  he  hit  the  mark,  the  mark 
was  hit,  and  he  had  hit  the  mark.  There  are  a  few 
verbs  of  this  kind  which  never  vary  in  form,  whether 
in  the  present  or  past  tense,  or  in  the  participle;  as, 
rccul,  read,  read,  in  the  past  tense  and  participle  pro- 
nounced red,  read  contracted  from  rcadcd;  Id,  let,  let; 
rid,  rid,  rid;  set,  sd,  sd:  shut,  shut,  shut;  shred,  shred, 
shred;  cut,  cut,  ctU ;  cast,  cast,  cast;  split,  sjdit,  split. 
In  the  present  state  of  the  language,  these  verbs  do  not 
vary,  though,  in  the  case  of  cast  and  split,  Shakspeare 
uses  castcd  and  spJittcd :  as, 

•  Ami  newly  iudwu, 
With  cas/ec/ Hluujjh,  uud  fresh  celcrily."  llcnry  V. 

"  Splitttd  the  lu'urt  itscH"."  Antoiii/  and  (Veopatra. 

Jt  is  probable  that  the  national  .spirit  of  verbal  contrac- 
tion has  come  over  such  words  as  these,  and  cut  oft' 
the  final  syllable.  lie  lighted  the  candle,  has  been 
pruned  down  to  ///.•  he  lit  the  candle,  leaving  noliiing 


IRREGULAR  VERBS.  291 

but  the  bare  stem.  In  all  such  cases,  submission  is 
mercilessly  exacted  by  custom,  "  penes  quern  jus  et 
norma  loquendi."  Few  men  would  now  venture  to 
write  "  it  snewedf  yet  Chaucer  says : — 

"  It  snetvecl  in  his  house  of  mete  and  drinkc, 
Of  all  daintees  that  men  could  of  thinke." 

Canttrhury  Tales. 

Or,  chmh: — 

"  So  domh  the  first  grand  thief  into  his  fold." 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  book  iv. 

There  are,  however,  no  two  words  in  the  English  lan- 
guage used  so  vaguely,  uncertainly,  or  so  erroneously, 
as  the  forms  arising  out  of  the  commonest  of  all 
terms,  namely,  to  eat  and  to  clrinh.  At  the  expense  of 
a  little  repetition,  it  may,  therefore,  be  necessary  to 
draw  attention  to  the  use  of  these  two  words. 

Eat,  ate,  eaten;  I  eat,  I  ate,  I  had  eaten;  the  dinner 
was  eaten;  drinJc,  drank,  drunk — drunk  being  a  con- 
traction of  the  participle  drunken;  I  drink,  I  drank,  I 
had  drunken,  or  drunk;  the  wine  was  drunken  or 
drunk — not  I  had  drank,  or  the  wine  was  drank,  both 
of  which  are  sheer  nonsense.  The  following  passages 
from  the  Bible,  1  Kings  i.  13,  are  rich  in  the  proper 
use  of  the  words : — 

"  So  he  went  back  with  him,  and  did  eat  bread  (or  ate  bread) 
and  drank  water." 

Not  drunk  water. 

Again : — 

"But  camcst  back,  and  hast  taten  bread  and  drunk  water." 


292  IRREGULAR  VERIJS. 

Again :  — 

"After  he  had  eaicn  bread,  and  after  he  had  drunk." 

"  It  shall  be  eaten  the  same  day  ye  offer  it." — Lev.  xix.  6. 

"They  did  eat,  they  drank."— Luke. 

The  Bible,  with  a  few  exceptions,  which  may  perhaps 
be  admitted  as  contractions,  makes  a  proper  distinction 
between  the  past  tense  of  the  verb  and  the  participle. 
In  the  case  of  drunken^  it  is  now  generally  contracted  to 
drunk ;  as,  the  wine  was  drunk:  but  no  man  having  but 
the  slenderest  pretensions  to  grammatical  knowledge 
would  even  write  or  use  the  expression  had  drunk.  liOt 
"ieer  to  be  drank  on  the  premises^''  be  confined  to  the 
sign-board,  where  no  man  ever  looks  for  a  grammatical 
guide.  Bound  retains  its  proper  form,  bounden,  as  our 
houndcn  dut}-^ ;  and  with  propriety  we  still  say  a  drunken 
beast,  though  the  fastidious  delicacy  of  the  age  would 
perhaps  denominate  him  an  intoxicated  individual. 

We  often  hear  a  confused  use  of  the  verb  to  sivim. 
Its  form  is  swim,  swam,  swum:  I  swim  over  the  river, 
I  swam  over  the  river,  I  had  sician  over  the  river. 

The  verb  cleave,  to  stick  to,  and  cleave,  to  split,  are 
both  the  same  in  the  present  tense,  but  difl'er  in  the 
past  tense  and  the  participle.  Cleave,  to  stick  to,  to 
adhere,  makes  cleave,  clave,  cleaved:  I  cleave  to  him,  I 
clave  to  him,  I  had  cleaved  to  him.  Cleave,  to  split, 
makes  cleave,  clove,  cloven,  and  cUfl:  I  cleave  the  wood, 
I  clove  the  wood,  I  had  chren  tlm  wood,  the  wood  was 
cloven,  or  cleft. 

Tlie  verbs  jbj  and  flee  arc  sometimes  confounded. 
Flij  denotes  the  act  of  flying,  without  reference  to  a 
particular  cause  or  f)bject.     As,  "  the  eagle y/jM  through 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  293 

the  air."  Flees  denotes  the  act  of  escaping  from  a 
threatened  danger  to  a  place  of  refuge.  "  The  pigeon 
flees  from  the  hawk,  the  pigeon  fled  or  fleed  from  the 
-hawk." 

Again,  floivn  and  flowed  are  sometimes  confounded, 
"The  birds  had /oi^■^^  or  were  flown,'"  "the  meadows 
were  overflowed,^''  not  overflown,  which  would  mean  that 
birds  had  floiun  over  them,  not  that  water  Lad  over- 
flowed  them. 


CU  AFTER  VI. 

THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  a  partof  English 
grammar,  in  which  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  anything 
bordering  upon  a  [)rinciple,  even  in  authors  of  the 
highest  autliority  in  English  literature,  namely,  the 
use  of  the  subjunctive  mood.  It  would  be  folly  to  sup- 
pose that  there  is  not  a  principle — the  question  is,  how 
that  principle  is  to  be  investigated  and  developed.  It 
is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  two  hypothetical  members 
of  a  sentence  both  placed  under  the  same  circumstances, 
yet  one  of  them  shall  be  in  the  indicative,  the  other  in 
the  subjunctive  mood.  Throughout  a  whole  work,  we 
shall  find  these  moods  used  indiscriminately  and  promis- 
cuously. 

"There  are  few  or  no  Enf^lish  writers  who  seem  to  have  ad- 
hered uniformlj"  to  any  rule  iu  the  use  of  the  verbs  after  tlie  con- 
junctions.    In  conso(iueni'e  either  of  ignorance  or  inattention, 

25* 


294  THE  SUnJL'NCTIVE  MOOP. 

the  most  correct  writers  have  fdll'it  into  incousistencios  even  in 
the  same  sentence." — Xuah  Wthnhr's  Dissertation. 

It  signifies  nothing  that  tliis  or  that  expression  has 
been  used  by  Johnson,  or  Addison,  or  Swift,  or  Pope,  or 
any  other  author  whatsoever.  All  of  these,  whose  names 
I  have  mentioned,  and  innumerable  others,  liave  written 
incorrectly,  and  their  authority  will  go  just  so  far  as  it 
can  be  supported  by  grammatical  ])rinciple,  and  no 
farther.  The  mere  ipse  dixit  of  any  man,  in  a  case  of 
this  kind,  is  not  worth  a  rush.  Time  and  space,  tenses 
and  moods,  possess  principles  which  bend  not  before 
authority.  It  is  not  a  question  of  genius  and  utility, 
but  simply  a  question  of  sj/niax;  and,  as  authors  of  the 
highest  reputation  in  English  literature  are,  over  and 
over  again,  inconsistent  with  themselves,  it  is  impossible 
that  in  all  cases  they  can  be  right,  unless  a  sentence, 
which  is  indicative  and  declarative,  can  be  equally  hy- 
pothetical and  subjunctive,  and  in  many  cases  unless 
past,  present,  and  future  time  should  be  so  accommo- 
dating as  to  be  capable  of  being  e.\ pressed  by  tho  same 
form  of  the  verb. 

We  are  told  that  tiie  subjunctive  mood  is  required 
when  a  contingency  is  implied.  Now,  contingency 
has  respect  to  that  which  is  past,  that  which  is  present, 
or  that  which  is  to  come.  But  with  respect  to  that 
which  is  pjost,  and  that  which  is  present,  tlierc  can  be 
no  contingency  of  fact.  In  both  cases,  a  thing  cither 
has  been  or  has  not  been;  either  is  or  is  not.  The  con- 
tingency cxi.sts  nowh(!re  but  in  the  mind  of  the  speaker. 
But  when  we  come  to  a  consideration  of  a  thing  that, 
ns  yet,  exists  not  nt  all,  but  which   is  future,  wo  then 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  295 

have  a  contingency  o{  fad  added  to  the  uncertainty  of 
the  speaker's  mind.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  then, 
we  speak  declaratively  and  indicatively  of  that  which  is 
past  or  present^  but  liypollielicalhj  of  that  which  is  con- 
tingent as  a  fact.  Let  us,  then,  try  this  principle  by 
supposed  examples,  and  then  by  existing  examples,  as 
they  occur  in  various  authors.  "Is  Thomas  able  to 
repeat  his  grammar  this  morning?"  "No,  he  is  not, 
because  he  was  ill  last  night."  "If  he  ivas  ill,  that  is 
enough."  "  Has  Thomas  come  to  repeat  his  grammar?" 
"No,  he  has  not,  because  his  head  acliesP  ^^  If  his 
head  aches^  that  is  enough."  In  neither  of  these  cases 
is  there  any  contingency  of  the /ac/,  and  therefore  we  say 
if  he  was  ill  at  that  time,  and  if  his  head  aches  at  this 
time.  But,  if  we  pass  on  to  a  future  time,  we  then  put 
the  case  hypothetically.  As,  "Will  Thomas  come  up 
to  repeat  his  grammar  to-morrow  ?"  "  Yes,  if  his  head 
do  not  ache," — if  he  he  better,  that  is,  should  it  so  hap- 
pen, should  his  head  not  ache,  should  he  be  better. 
"Did  you  take  a  walk  yesterday?"  "No,  I  did  not, 
because  it  was  wet."  "  If  it  ivas  wet  (not  if  it  were) 
you  were  better  at  liomc."  "  Will  you  walk  now  .^" 
*'  Yes,  if  it  does  not  rain."  "  If  it  rains  now,  will  you 
take  a  walk  an  hour  hence  ?"  "  Yes,  if  in  the  mean  time 
it  clear  up,"  that  is,  should  clear  up,  not  clears,  which 
has  reference  only  to  a  2^^'<^se7it  and  now  existing  state. 
"  Do  you  think  that  the  roads  will  be  dirty  this  morn- 
ing?" "  Yes,  if  there  has  been  much  rain  in  the  night." 
"Will  you  ride  your  horse  to  town  next  week?"  "  Yes, 
if  he  have  (not  has)  recovered  of  his  lameness  before 
that  time."     "Though  he  studied  (past)  the  work  for 


296  THE  SL'BJL'NCTIVE  MOOD. 


twelve  montlis,yet  he  did  not  make  himself  master  of  it. 
Though  he  sltidies  ((jresent)  twelve  hours  a  day,  yet  he 
makes  little  progress.  Though  he  stitdij  twelve  hours, 
he  will  not  (future)  be  sufllcicntly  pre{)ared." 

"  Were  I  Alexander,  I  would  do  it.  And  were  I 
Parraenio,  I  would  do  it."  That  is,  were  the  state  of 
things  so  altered,  that  I,  as  Alexander,  should  beeome 
Parmenio,  then  I  would  do  it.  But  if  in  these  cases, 
we  substitute  teas  in  the  place  of  ivere,  the  meaning  of 
both  sentences  would  be  changed,  and  thatsubjunctivity, 
which  is  their  very  gist  and  essence,  would  cease  to 
exist. 

The  substance  of  these  observations  on  the  subjunc- 
tive mood  was  written  many  years  ago.  Since  that 
time,  I  Imve  had  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in  with  Koah 
Web.sler's*  fourth  I)is.sertation  on  "The  Knglish  Lan- 
guage," with  introductory  remarks  by  II.  J,  II. — the 
subject  being  the  subjunctive  mood.  Of  the  numerous 
examples  there  given,  whether  supposed  or  real,  I  do 
not  find  one  to  whieh  the  above-mentioned  [)rinciplc 
does  not  apply,  where  the  distinction  of  past,  present, 
and  future  is  clear  and  deeided.  K  very  thing  that  is 
past  or  ]inseiit  i.s  a  matter  of  ctrUiintijy  as  far  as  the 
thing  itself  is  concerned,  though  it  may  not  be  a  matter 
of  certainty  as  far  as  our  hiowledtje  is  concerned.  We 
speak  it  therefore  declaratively  or  indicatively.  Kvery- 
thing  that  is  future  we  speak  of  as  a  matter  subject  to 
some  condition,  by  wiiich  it  may  or  may  not  bo  aflected. 
In  many  cases,  .s7<a^/  and  should  may  be  prefixed  t(j  that 

"    \1 1     Wobstor  i-^  an  Aim'riciiii. 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  297 

which  has  a  subjunctive  form,  when  it  relates  to  that 
which  \s  future,  but  never  when  it  relates  to  that  which 
is  past  or  present. 

'Let  us  now  try  how  far  this  consideration  will  apply 
to  the  following  examples,  given  in  11.  J.  H.'s  introduc- 
tory remarks: — 

"If  I  he  well  next  lueeJc,  I  shall  call  upon  him." 
"If  he  be  there  by  tivo  o'clock,  he  will  be  in  time." 
"  If  he  be  ready  ivhen  you  call,  you  shall  have  it." 
"  If  they  he  unprepared,  they  will  fail  in  the  attempt." 

Everyone  of  these  suppositions  relates  to  ii  future  con- 
tingency, and  might  be  expressed  hj  should  he  or  shall  be. 

"  If  it  is  he,  I  am  much  mistaken." 

"  If  it  is  raining,  you  had  better  not  go." 

"  If  I  am  the  man  you  seek,  why  not  confess  it  ?" 

"  If  they  ai-e  guilty,  they  will  be  hanged." 

Every  one  of  these  sentences  relates  to  the  present 
time,  and  is,  therefore,  expressed  declaratively. 

"  If  Caesar  was  a  tyrant,  he  deserved  death." 

"  If  I  was  in  your  company  at  A.'s,  I  have  not  the  slightest  re- 
collection of  it." 

"  If  his  mind  teas  uncultivated  then,  it  is  far  from  being  so 
now." 

"  If  they  i<;ere  at  York  when  I  was,  probably  I  should  have 
seen  them." 

Every  one  of  these  sentences  relates  to  the  past,  and  is 
properly  expressed  by  the  indicative  mood.  If  we 
give  an  answer  to  a  supposition,  which  has  reference 
to  present  or  j^ctst  time,  that  answer  will  be  declarative  ; 
but  not  so  in  the  case  of  a  supposition,  relating  to  future 
time.     A^, 


298  THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 

"  If  Cfcsar  icas  a  tyrant,  he  deserved  death."  " Ciesar 
teas  a  tyrant,  and  therefore  he  deserved  death." 

"If  it  is  he,  I  am  much  mistaken."  "It  is  he,  and 
therefore  you  are  much  mistaken." 

"If  I  be  well  next  week,  I  shall  call  upon  him."  "If 
you  sitoiild  he  well,  I  hope  you  will  call  upon  him." 

II.  J.  II.  then  gives  the  following  illustration  of  what 
he  calls  the  present  tense  of  the  subjunctive  hypothetic 
mood  : — 

"If  I  7rere  in  a  situation  to  ilcfond.  I  would  disdain  to  flee." 
'*  If  he  Mc'/*e  in  my  situation,  lie  would  ho  unlicaraldi'." 
"  If  it  were  not  for  its  opacity,  I  could  see  inoRi  clearly." 
"  If  they  were  present,  you  would  not  speak  of  them  so  con- 
temptuously." 

l?ut  sentences  like  the.se,  and  which,  I  believe,  are  con- 
fined to  the  verb  icere,  seem  to  embrace  both  present 
and  future  time.  As,  "  If  I  were  in  a  situation  at  this 
moment  to  defend,  or,  should  I  be  placed  in  a  situation 
to  defend." 

The  expression,  being  capable  of  a  double  combined 
meaning,  with  reference  to  i\me,  present  and/ulure,  is 
peculiar,  and  cannot  be  classed  simply  in  the  prcscut 
tense.  It  is  the  partici|)ation  of  futurity  that  retiuircs 
the  subjunctive  form.  Were  the  meaning  strictly  con- 
fined to  the  present  time,  we  should  say,  "  If  I  am 
in  a  situation  to  defend,  I  will  disdain  to  flee."  The 
subjunctive  form  of  the  verb  carries  us  on  to  a  future 
point,  at  which  point  we  should  or  would  do  this 
or  that.  \n  its  present  form,  we  are  already  at  a 
point  when  we  shall  or  will.  "  Were  I  Alexander,  I 
would  do  it."    'i'liis  iiuplicH,  in  tiie  first  i)laee,  that  I  am 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD,  299 

not  Alexander:  and,  in  the  second,  that  icere  mj  con- 
dition, should  my  condition  be,  so  far  changed  that  I 
sJwuld  sX^wdi  in  the  place  of  Alexander,  I  would  do  it. 
Such  a  sentence  as  the  following,  it  is  true,  has  refer- 
ence to  past  time,  and  yet  is  put  in  the  subjunctive 
mood  ;  but  then  the  subjunctive  member  of  the  sentence 
is  future  with  reference  to  the  primary  and  indicative 
member  of  it.  "  It  teas  my  desire  that  he  should  come 
yesterday^  The  coming  being  posterior  to  the  desire, 
and  therefore  future. 

"  After  an  attentive  and  accurate  examination  of  this  subject, 
I  believe  I  may  venture  to  assert  (says  Mr.  AVebster)  that  nine 
times  out  of  ten,  when  the  pretended  subjunctive  form  of  the 
verb  is  used  after  a  conjunction,  either  in  the  vulgar  translation 
of  the  Bible,  or  in  our  best  profane  authors,  the  sense  is  actually 
future,  and,  to  render  the  sentences  complete,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  insert  sliall  or  should." —  Webster's  Dissertation,  p.  49. 

If,  in  all  cases  of  doubt  as  to  the  use  of  the  indica- 
tive or  the  subjunctive  mood,  we  should  mentally  try 
whether  or  not  the  auxiliary  can,  with  propriety,  be 
})laced  before  the  principal  verb,  we  should  at  once  see 
the  principle  upon  which  the  form  of  expression  must 
rest.  We  may  go  so  far  as  to  look  upon  the  auxiliary 
as  a  princijMl,  and  the  verb  following  as  a  verb  in  the 
infinitive  mood ;  with  the  exception  of  the  verb  icere^ 
which  is  derived  from  the  German  Ich  war,  I  was,  and 
as  a  verb  is  irregular  and  defective,  and  does  not  har- 
monize with  the  usual  form  of  an  English  verb.  In 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  indeed,  the  verb  following  the  aux- 
iliary was  evidently  considered  to  be  a  verb  in  the 
infinitive  mood;  for  this  is  distinctly  marked  by  the 
termination  an,  which  denoted  the  inliiiitive  mood  of 


300  THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOU. 

the  Anglo-Saxon  verb.  As,  "^iii  uille  ic  /c«ra»." 
{Lnk-e  xiv.  ID.)  "Now  will  I  go,"  an  infinitive  after  iciU. 
"IIu  viceri  se  man  well  faran?''  "llow  may,  or  can, 
the  man  fare  well  ?"     To  fare,  an  infinitive  after  may. 

The  propriety  of  using  the  indicative  or  the  subjunc- 
tive mood  will  sometimes  be  determined  by  an  adjunct 
of  the  verbs,  which  marks  the  time  of  an  action.  As, 
"  Were  I  ever  to  recover  from  my  lameness,  I  would 
make  a  pedestrian  tour."  "  Were  he  lo  read  hard  for 
the  next  six  months,  he  would  probably  accomplisb  bis 
object."  Futurity  is  the  very  essence  of  these  sen- 
tences; and  to  write  icas  in  the  place  of  were  would  be 
a  monstrous  solecism. 

As  a  clear  principle,  there  can  be  no  contingency  of 
2k  fact  apart  [rom  futurity. 

Lindley  Murray  gives  the  following  phrase  as  a  con- 
tingency apart  froni  futurity: — 

"  If  he  thinks  as  he  speaks,  he  may  safely  be  trusted." 

But  surely  the  man  cither  thinks  as  he  speaks,  or  ho 
does  not  think  as  he  speaks.  One  way  or  the  other  is 
a  matter  o{  fact,  only  I  do  not  know  whether  or  not 
he  si)caksas  he  thinks;  but  my  ignorance  cannot  alter 
the  existence  of  a  fict.  Westminster  Abbey  cither 
exists  or  it  does  not  exist.  If  it  exi.sts,  the  ignorance 
of  a  Ilottentot  as  to  its  existence  could  not  affect  that 
existence.  The  subjective  contingency  arises  out  of 
mere  mental  ignorance  or  uncertainty  as  to  the  existence 
of  a  fact;  but  in  that  which  cither  exists  or  does  not 
exist,  13  or  is  wA,  there  can  be  no  objective  contingency 
at  all. 

'J'/ic  suJjjwKtive  monr]^  then,  in  En<jU>^h,  is  not  used  tcith 


TROrER  USE  OF  THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.         801 

proprkbj^  rvhen  ive  speah  of  that  tvhich  is  past,  or  of  thai 
ivhich  is  present,  hut  when  the  fact  itself  has  not  yet  taken 
place,  and  is  necessarily  future. 

This  rule  will  bear  the  test  of  the  numerous  exam- 
ples which  have  already  been  given,  and  will  equally 
apply  to  the  use  or  abuse  of  this  mood  in  those  which 
follow. 


CHAPTER   YII. 

EXAMPLES  OF  THE  PROPER  USE  OF  THE  SUBJUNCTIVE 

MOOD, 

"  Even  so  oiu-  eyes  wait  upon  the  Lord  our  God,  until  he  have 
mercy  upon  us." — Psalm  cxiii.  2. 

The  end  or  purpose  of  \vaiting  is,  that  the  Lord  may 
have  mercy  upon  us;  that  mercy  not  being  extended  to 
us  as  yet.  If,  in  this  case,  we  should  say  has  mercy 
upon  us,  instead  of  have  mercy  upon  us,  the  meaning- 
would  be  altered.  If  has  be  used,  the  sentence  would 
mean  that  our  eyes  are  in  the  habit  of  waiting  upon 
the  Lord  until  he  has  mercy  upon  us,  when  they  cease 
to  wait  upon  him ;  but  if  have  be  used,  then  the  sen- 
tence means,  as  it  does  here,  that  our  eyes  continue  to 
wait  upon  the  Lord  our  God  until,  at  some  future 
period,  he  shall  he  pleased  to  have  mercy  upon  us.  The 
subjunctive  mood  is  here  clearly  and  legitimately  re- 
quired. 

"They  deck  it  with  silver  and  with  gold,  they  fasten  it  with 
nails  and  with  hammers,  that  it  move  not." — Jcr.  x.  4. 

Here  the  end  or  purpose  of  fastening  it  is,  that  it  move 
26 


302  TUE  PROPEK  USE  OF 

not.  In  both  these  cases,  a  future  end  or  purpose  is  in 
view. 

••  Men  do  not  despise  a  thief  if  he  steal  to  satisfy  his  soul  when 
he  is  hunjjry." — Prur.  vi.  '.W. 

That  is,  as  a  general  supposition,  should  a  thief  steal 
merely  to  satisfy  hunger,  then  men  do  not  in  such  a 
case  despise  him.  tSlcals,  in  this  case,  would  imi)ly  a 
habit,  and  not  merely  one  individual  fact. 

'•  If  thou  return  at  nil  in  peace,  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken  at 
all  by  uie."— 1  Khijs  xxii.  28. 

Thy  returning  in  peace  will  be  a  proof  that  the  Lord 
hath  not  spoken  by  rae.  t:^houlJst  lliou  return  in  peace, 
a  thing  not  to  be  expected,  then  will  it  be  a  proof  that 
the  Lord  iiath  not  spoken  by  me;  if  thou  velum,  having 
reference  to  a  future  contingency. 

'•  If  thou /trire  a  servant,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  thyself,  l)e- 
cause  thou  hast  bought  him  with  a  price  ;  if  thou  hare  a  servant, 
entreat  him  as  thy  brother,  for  thou  hast  need  of  him  as  of  thine 
own  soul ;  if  thou  entreat  him  evil,  and  he  run  from  Ihce,  which 
way  will  thou  go  to  seek  him  ?" — Eccl.  xxxiii.  30. 

If,  in  this  sentence,  "we  read  hast  instead  of  hare,  the 
sentence  would  mean.  If  thou  hast  a  servant  at  this 
present  moment;  but  if  we  read  have,  it  means,  at  wliat- 
cver  time  thou  maycst  have  a  servant,  entreat  him  "as 
thy  brother."  If  tlion  hast,  kc,  would  convey  a  spe- 
cific precept  with  reference  to  a  present  state  of  things; 
if  thou  have,  a  general  precept  with  reference  to  a  con- 
tingent state  of  things. 

"If  tliou  hast  a  hundred  pounds  at  thy  present  eom- 
maml,  pray  lend  it  to  me,"  "If  thou  hare  a  hundred 
pouiid.s  at  thy  commaiul  n<'xt  January,  wilt  thou  lend 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  303 

it  to  me?"  That  is,  if  thou  shalt  have  or  should  have, 
if  thou  have. 

""With  whom,  if  he  come  shortly,  I  will  see  you." — Heh.  v.  8. 
If,  in  a  short  time,  he  should  come,  or  shaU  come. 

"  For  these  mid  hours,  till  evening  rise, 
"  I  have  at  will."  Paradise  Lost,  book  v. 

Rise,  not  rises;  for  Raphael  is  speaking  of  a  future 
event. 

"  Unanswered,  lest  thou  boast."  Paradise  Lost. 

That  is,  lest,  not  having  received  an  answer,  thou 
shouldst  hereafter  be  led  to  boast. 

"  No  fear  lest  dinner  cool."  Paradise  Lost. 

That  is,  lest  it  shall  or  should  cool, 

"  Thou  shalt  stone  him  with  stones,  that  he  die." — Deut.  xiii.  10. 

The  end  or  purpose  of  stoning  him  is,  that  he  may  die, 
that  he  shall  be  stoned  to  death.  They  stoned  him  with 
stones,  till  he  was  dead :  they  had  stoned  him  with  stones 
till  he  was  dead:  they  have  stoned  him  with  stones,  till 
he  is  dead.  In  all  these  cases,  the  end  or  purpose  is 
accomplished.  But  in  the  phrase  "thou  shalt  stone 
him  with  stones,  till,  or  that,  he  die,  the  end  or  pur- 
pose is  yet  to  be  accomplished. 

"Though  he  slai/  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." — Job  xiii.  15. 

Though  he  should  proceed  beyond  all  his  present  in- 
flictions, and  even  sla?/  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him. 
(Future.) 


304  THE  PROPER  USE  OF 

"  Though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." 

i.  e.  on  the  supposition  that  he  should  die,  yet  would 
be  live;  very  difl'ereiit  from  though  he  was  dead. 

"The  soul  which  hath  touched  any  such  shall  be  unclean  until 
even,  and  shall  not  eat  of  the  holy  things,  unless  he  u'ash  his 
flesh  with  water." — Lev.  x.\ii.  G. 

That  is,  until  he  shall  have  washed  his  flesh,  having 
referenee  to  an  act,  not  past  or  present,  but  as  yet  to 
be  performed. 

"That  I  may  testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this 
place  of  torment." — Luke.  xvi.  28. 

The  end  of  testifying  is,  that  they  may  not  come  into 
this  place  of  torment,  lest  they  should  come  into  this 
place  of  torment — tie  veniant. 

"If  thy  brother  (rcspa.'is  against  thee,  rebuke  him  :  and  if  he 
repent,  forgive  him." — Luke  xvii.  3. 

That  ifi,  if  thy  brother  .shall  or  should  trespass  again.st 
thee,  rebuke  him  ;  and  if,  after  tlii.s,  he  {<hall  or  shouhl 
rq^ent,  forgive  him. 

"  If  ever  he  have  chihl,  abortive  be  it." 

Sii.vKsrEARK,  liicharti  III. 

Not  has  child. 

"And  take  hoed  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  he 
overcharged  with  surfeiting." — Luke  xxi.  34. 

The  i)urpo.se  or  object  of  taking  heed  i.s,  "lest  your 
hearts  .should,  at  any  future  time,  be  overcharged  with 
surfeiting."  In  such  a  case,  with  a  future  })urpose  in 
view,  to  say  iahe  heed  lest  your  hearts  are  overcfixiryed, 
would  be  nonsense. 


THE  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  305 

"If  thou  seelc  him,  he  will  be  found  of  thee  ;  but  if  thou /orsaA.-e 
him,  he  -will  cast  thee  off  fur  ever." — 1  Chron.  xxviii.  9. 

Tliat  is,  lie  will  be  found  of  thee,  if  at  any  time  thou 
shalt  lliink  fit  to  seek  him;  if  thou  seeJc,  not  seekest ; 
and  though  the  subjunctive  mood  is  here  used  with  pro- 
priety by  the  translators  of  the  Bible,  yet,  in  other  cases 
of  precisely  similar  import,  we  find  the  indicative;  the 
translators,  in  such  cases,  deviated  from  the  original, 
and  using  the  indicative  or  subjunctive  mood  indiscri- 
minately, and  apparently  without  the  slightest  consi- 
deration. 

"  Then  shalt  thou  prosper,  lUhoxi  taJcest  heed  to  fulfil  the  statutes 
and  the  judgment  which  the  Lord  charged  Moses  with  concern- 
ing Israel." 

If  thou  take  heed,  then  thou  shalt  prosper;  if  thou  seel- 
him,  he  will  be  found  of  thee;  upon  what  principle 
shall  we  write  talcest  in  the  one  sentence,  and  seek  in  the 
other? 

"  Beware, 
And  govern  well  thy  appetite,  lest  sin 
Surprise  thee."  Paradise  Lost,  book  vii. 

Lest  it  should. 


"  And  they  shall  pursue  thee  until  thou  perish." — Deut.  xxviii. 


00 


Is ot  perishes i.     Until  the  end  be  accomplished,  namely, 
that  thou  perish, 

"  What  man  of  you,  having  a  thousand  sheep,  if  he  lose  one 
of  them."  &c. — Luke  xv.  4. 

That  is,  if  he  shall  have  lost  one — si  unam  perdiderit. 

26* 


306  THE  PROPER  USE  OF 

'•  Which  fif  you.  intemliu},'  to  l»uiUl  a  tuwor,  sitteth  not  down 
first  anil  countclh  the  cost,  wht'tht-r  he  have  suflicicnt  to  finish 
it  V'—Lide  xiv.  28. 

An  haleat. 

"I  give  tbcc  charpe  in  the  sight  of  Goi\,  that  thou  Areep  this 
comniauclment  without  spot." — Tim.  vi.  15. 

Expressive  of  an  end  or  purpose,  whereas  tliat^  signify- 
ing a  eause,  and  referring  to  present  or  past  time,  would 
require  the  indicative  mood.  As,  I  am  sorry  to  hear 
that  he  ijs  ilL     I  was  sorry  to  hear  that  lie  ivas  ill. 

"So  shall  the  lord  bring  upon  you  all  evil  things,  until  he  have 
destroyed  you."  (i.  v.  until  he  shall  have  destroyed  you.)  — 
Joshua  xxiii.  15. 

Expressive  of  an  object  to  accomjyUsh.  And  Joshua 
smote  him  and  his  people,  until  he  had  h'ft  him  none 
remaining.     Expressive  of  an  oh'^^iQi  accomplished. 


en  A  v'v  v.\{  \  \\\. 

EXAMPLES   OF   THE    PUGPEH    USE   OF    THE  INDICATIVE 

MOOD. 

"  Ik  any  of  my  readers  has  looked  with  so  little  attention  upon 
the  world  around  him." — Atlvinturrr,  No.  CD. 

Hns  certainly.  'J1ic  (jucslion  jtropoundod  i.-^,  whclher 
or  not  any  of  the  author's  readers  has  looked  with  so 
little  attention  upon  the  world  around  him.  The  Hict 
is  certain,  one  tcay  or  the  other.  There  is  no  end  or 
]>urpo.se  in  view. 


THE  INDICATIVE  MOOD.  307 

"  Though  every  funeral  that  passes  before  their  eyes  evinces 
the  deceitfuhicss  of  such  expectations." 

Eviyices  certainly;  tbat  is,  evinces  the  deceitfulness  of 
sucli  expectations  the  moment  that  it  is  passing, 

"  If  Mr.  Frolic  is  celebrated  by  other  tongues  than  his  own,  I 
shall  willingly  propagate  his  praise  :  but  if  he  has  swelled  among 
us  with  empty  boasts  and  honors  conferred  only  by  himself,  I 
shall  treat  him  with  rustic  sincerity,  and  drive  him,  as  an  im- 
postor, from  this  part  of  the  kingdom  to  some  region  of  more 
credulity." — Ramhler,  No.  6. 

If  he  is  celebrated  at  this  time,  and  if  he  has  (already) 
swelled,  &;c.  The  indicative  mood  is  right  in  both 
cases. 

"  He  that  gazes  upon  elegance  or  pleasure,  which  want  of  money 
hinders  him  from  imitating  or  partaking,  comforts  himself  that 
the  time  of  distress  will  soon  be  at  an  end,  and  that  every  day 
brings  him  nearer  to  a  state  of  happiness,  though  he  Jcnoics  it  has 
passed,  not  only  without  acquisition  of  advantage,  but  perhaps 
without  endeavors  after  it." — Adventurer,  No.  G9. 

lie  gazes  at  such  and  such  things,  comforts  himself 
with  such  and  such  notions,  at  the  same  time  knowing, 
though  he  knows  that,  &c.  The  indicative  mood  is 
required. 

"  If  thou  canst  do  anything,  have  compassion  on  us,  and  help 
ns."— Mark  ix.  22. 

That  is,  if  thou  canst,  at  this  moment.  JIast  thou  the 
power  to  do  this  thing?  if  thou  hast  the  power,  have 
mercy  on  us,  and  save  us, 

"  Thyself,  though  great  and  glorious,  dost  thou  boast  ?" 

Paradise  Lost,  book  vi. 


303  PROPER  USE  OF  IXDICATIVE  MOOD. 

"  Qiicm  si  fata  virura  servant,  si  I'cacitiir  nnrn 
.Klherti'i."  ^Eiwid,  i.  550. 

Virgil  liere  uses  the  present  indicative,  because  the 
condition  has  reference  to  the  present  time;  for,  if  the 
man  is  not  alive  now,  he  cannot  be  alive  hereafter, 
"With  the  speaker,  therefore,  it  was  a  presait  condition, 
there  being  no  contingency  of  fact.  In  the  enunciation 
of  general  principles  wliich,  if  existing  at  all,  must 
always  exist,  though  the  expression  may  be  conditional, 
the  indicative  mood  is  used  with  propriety ;  as.  Is 
there  a  God?  Yes.  If,  then,  there  is  a  God,  that  God? 
kc.  Honesty  is  the  best  policy.  If  honesty  is  the 
best  policy,  then,  &c.  Man  is  mortal.  If  man  is 
mortal,  then,  &c.  These  principles,  if  true  at  all,  are 
true  at  all  times;  and  the  question  is  not,  whether  or 
not  they  may  ultimately  be  found  to  be  true,  but  whether 
or  not  they  are  so  at  this  moment,  have  been  so,  and 
ever  will  be  so. 

•'  \\'\\\  koop  your  own  heart,  if  silence  is  best; 
'J'hough  a  woman,  for  once  I'll  in  ignorance  rc.^t," 

NoAii  Wkbstek  {Quotation). 

Of  this  principle  Mr,  Webster  oUscrves,  and  justly, 
that  the  indicative  mood  is  employed  to  express  condi- 
tional ideas  more  frequently  than  the  subjunctive,  even 
by  the  best  Kngli.sh  writers  (p.  43).  And  again, 
"When  anirmation  ^c^^)ccis presaii  time,  the  indicative 
form  i.s  the  most  correct,  and  the  only  form  which 
corresponds  with  the  actual  present  .state  of  the  lan- 
guage" (p.  4o). 


CONFUSION  OF  MOODS.  309 


CHAPTER   IX. 

IMPROPER  AND  CONFUSED  USE  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  AND 
SUBJUNCTIVE    MOODS. 

"  If  a  man  teas  to  compare  the  efFect  of  a  single  stroke  of  a 
pickaxe,  or  of  one  impression  of  a  spade,  with  the  general  design 
and  last  result,  he  would  be  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  their 
disproportion." — Rambler,  No.  43. 

Were,  not  teas.  If  any  man  sbould  compare,  &;c.  If  a 
man  tvere  to  compare ;  otherwise,  we  shall  have  a  verb 
of  the  indicative  mood  past  imperfect  tense,  with  con- 
ditional and  future  signification.  Let  any  one  try  to 
translate  the  phrase  as  it  stands  into  another  language, 
and  the  error  will  stand  out  glaring  and  palpable. 

"  But  if  it  he  true,  which  was  said  by  a  French  prince,  that 
no  man  was  a  hero  to  the  servants  of  his  chamber,  it  is  equally 
true  that  every  man  is  less  a  hero  to  himself." — Johnson. 

If  it  is  true;  that  is,  if,  as  a  general  maxim,  it  is  true, 
that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  the  servants  of  his  chamber; 
not  icas  a  hero.  The  French  prince  lays  down  a  princi- 
ple, namely,  that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  the  servants  of  his 
own  chamber.  Was  refers  to  a  past  time,  and  cannot  con- 
vey a  general  principle.     Be  and  luas  are  both  wrong. 

"  Two  young  men  have  made  a  discovery,  that  there  was  a 
God." — Swift,  Argument  against  Abolition  of  Christianity. 

We  naturally  ask,  at  what  time  was  there  a  God?  does 


810  CONFUSION  OF  INDICATIVE 

a  God  continue  to  exist  now,  and  will  he  exist  here- 
after? The  phrase  unquestionably  ought  to  be  is  a 
God,  the  simple  enunciation  of  an  eternal  principle. 
They  have  made  a  discovery,  that  there  is  a  God. 
That  there  icas  a  God  !     When  ?     Last  year  ? 

"  If  the  lop  docs  not  come  off  take  the  turkey  to  yourself." 
"  Madam."  replied  the  man  in  black.  "  I  don't  care  a  farthing 
whether  the  leg  or  the  wing  comes  off." — Gvhlsmilh. 

Do  and  come;  for  the  parties  are  disputing  upon  the 
result  of  the  lady's  carving,  and  not  upon  the  actual 
state  of  the  turkey. 

"If  nobody  within  either  mores  or  speals,  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  thoy  may  carry  the  place  bv  storm;  but  if  a  panic  should 
seize  thim,  it  will  be  i)roper  to  defer  the  enterj)rise  to  a  more 
hungry  hour." — Idler,  No.  8. 

If  no  person  within  cither  mo  re  or  speak ;  not  moves  or 
sj^eaks ;  for  the  author  is  speaking,  not  of  anything 
present,  but  of  what  may  happen,  namely,  that  some 
one  within  may  either  move  or  speak,  and  cause  a  panic. 
Should  no  one  either  move  or  sjycal;  then  perhaps  they 
may  carry  the  place  by  storm ;  but,  should  any  one  move 
or  spcak^  and  on  this  account  a  panic  shoxdd  seize  them, 
then  it  will  bo  proper  to  defer  the  attack  to  a  more 
hungry  hour.  'JMie  author  himself  says,  in  the  second 
member  of  the  sentence,  but  if  a  panic  shouhl  seize 
them,  not  seizes  them. 

"If  the  hair  hax  lost  its  powder,  a  lady  has  a  jniff ;  if  a  coat  he 
spotted,  a  lady  has  a  brush." — Idler,  No.  G. 

Here  we  have  has  in  one  member  of  the  sentence, 
and  be  in  the  other  ;  the  one  indicative,  the  other  sub- 


AXD  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOODS.  311 

junctive;  the  author  being  again  inconsistent  with  him- 
self. It  is  easy  to  give  a  future  form  to  the  senteuce: 
"If  the  hair  shall  at  any  time  have  lost  its  powder,  a 
lady  has  a  puff;  if  a  coat  sltall  at  any  time  be  spotted, 
a  lady  has  a  brush." 

"  If  similitude  of  manners  he  a  motive  to  kindness,  the  Idler 
may  flatter  liiiuself  with  universal  patronage." — Idler,  No.  1. 

Is  a  motive  to  kindness.  The  author  is  speaking  of  a 
principle,  which,  if  true  now,  was  equally  so  a  thousand 
years  ago,  and  will  be  so  a  thousand  years  hence,  and 
which  simply  either  is  or  is  not;  and  these  general  pro- 
positions, as  it  has  already  been  shown  in  a  former 
chapter,  are  properly  expressed  in  the  indicative  present. 

"  If  there  he  but  one  body  of  legislators,  it  is  no  better  than  a 
tyranny;  if  there  are  only  two,  there  will  want  a  casting  vote." 
— Spectator,  No.  287. 

Inconsistent. 

"And  when  the  tempter  came  to  him,  he  said,  If  thou  he  the 
Son  of  God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread." — Matt. 
iv.  3. 

In  the  Latin  and  Greek  of  these  passages,  we  find  d 
and  es,  both  indicative,  and  properly  so. 

"  If  thou  he  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  from  the  cross." — Matt. 
xxvii.  40. 

Again,  k,  in  the  Latin  and  Greek,  is  in  the  indicative 
mood,  and  ought  to  be  so  here. 

"  Now  if  Christ  he  preached,  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  how 
say  some  among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead? 
But  if  there  he  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is  Christ  not 


312  CONFUSION"  OF  INDICATIVE 

risen.  And  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vuin, 
ami  your  faith  is  also  vaiu." — 1  Cor.  xv.  12. 

In  all  these  cases,  the  translators  have  unnecessarily 
deviated  from  the  original,  and  sLib.stitated  the  subjunc- 
tive for  the  indicative  mood.  The  question  was,  not 
whether  Christ  should  or  should  not  be  preached  that 
he  rose  from  the  dead,  but  whether  or  not,  at  the  time 
St.  Paul  speaks,  he  is  or  is  not  preached  that  he  rose 
from  the  dead. 

"  For  he  must  reign,  till  ho  hafh  put  all  enemies  umlor  his  feet." 
—1  r'or.  xv.  25. 

Till  he  sliall  have  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet — siih- 
jeccril.  Till  he  hdve.  Till  carries  us  forward  to  a 
future  time;  halh  fixes  us  down  to  the  present. 

"  If  tliou  hriiig  thy  gift  to  the  altur.  ami  there  remcmbcrcst,"  \(.-. 
—Mull.  V.  23. 

Here  is  a  sulyunctivc  and  an  indicative  mood  in  one 
and  the  same  sentence,  and  under  j^rccisoly  the  same 
conditions.  //  thou  hring  required  to  be  followed  by 
if  thou  remember. 

"Ami  he  .said  unto  tliciii,  If  tlit-y  hear  not  .Moses  ami  the  pro- 
phets, neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead." — Luke  xvi.  :U. 

Though  one  rise  from  the  dead.  Though  one  rose 
means,  though  one  did  ri.se  at  some  former  period. 
Though  one  rise,  that  is,  though  one  shouh.1  rise  is  the 
meaning  required,  and  also  conveyed  by  the  original. 

"Nay,  father  Ahraham,  l)ut  if  one  wtiit  unto  them  from  the 
dead,  they  will  repent." — Luke  xvi.  29. 

Tliat  i.s,  if  one  icmt  at  a  future  time,  wliich  is  intense 
nonsense. 


AND  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOODS.  313 

In  these  cases,  with  a  clear  and  obvious  principle 
before  them,  and  with  the  guidance  of  the  Latin  and 
the  Greek,  as  also  in  many  other  similar  cases,  we  ask 
what  could  induce  the  translators  of  the  Bible  to  be  so 
frequently  inconsistent  with  themselves  ?  The  answer 
is,  that  the  English  language  had  not  then,  nor  has  it 
yet,  received  that  attention  which  is  required. 

"  No  one  can  tborougbly  understand  the  Scriptures  of  the  New 
Testament,  unless  he  be  well  acquainted  with  those  of  the  Old. 
No  one  can  entirely  comprehend  the  more  perfect  system  of 
Christ,  unless  he  sees  it  prefigured  in  the  more  imperfect  system 
of  Moses." — Rennel,  Sermon  24. 

Here  we  have  unless  he  he,  suhjunctice,  fol]o\ved  by 
unless  he  sees,  indicative.  No  one  can  thoroughly  un- 
derstand the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  unless 
at  the  time  he  is  endeavoring  to  understand  them,  he 
is  well  acquainted  with  those  of  the  Old.  No  one  can 
comprehend  the  more  perfect  system  of  Christ,  unless 
he  sees  it  at  the  time  prefigured  in  the  more  imperfect 
system  of  Moses.  In  other  respects,  the  sentence  is 
bad ;  we  have  more  ■perfect  contrasted  with  tnore  im- 
perfect; and  though  perhaps  degrees  of  perfection  may 
be  allowed,  yet  there  is  an  incongruity  between  an 
ascending  and  a  descendiog  comparative.  We  expect 
more  perfect  and  less  perfect,  not  more  perfect  and  more 
imperfect. 

"  So  that,  while  to  law  we  would  commit  the  defence  of  society 
from  all  the  aggressions  of  violence,  and  confide  the  strict  and  the 
stern  guardianship  of  the  interests  of  justice,  we  should  tremble 
for  humanity,  lest  it  withered  and  expired  under  the  grasp  of  so 
rough  a  protector;  and  lest,  before  a  countenance  grave  as  that  of 
a  judge,  and  grim  as  that  of  a  messenger-at-arms,  this  frail  but 

27 


314  CONFUSION  OF  MOODS. 

loveliest  of  the  virtues,  should  be  turned,  as  if  by  the  head  of 
Medusa,  into  stone." — Chdlincrs,  Brnljcicaltr  TrtiUisc. 

Lest  it  should  wither,  and  expire;  and  the  author,  in  the 
nc-xt  member  of  the  sentence,  says,  lest  this  frail  but 
loveliest  of  the  virtues  should  he  turned,  being  obviously 
inconsistent  with  himself. 

"So  he  took  the  opportunity  of  declaring  certain  truths,  which 
she  niitrht  ponder  in  her  heart  till  she  was  able  to  comprchctid  them 
more  fully.'' — S'.nnon,  "  Christ  the  licsurrccduii  u)ul  the  Life''' 

Shoukl  be  able,  I  might  with  propriety  say,  she  pon- 
dered in  her  heart  certain  truths  till  she  teas  able,  &c., 
because  here  would  be  an  object  accomplished;  but  in 
the  case  before  us  the  object  is  future:  "So  he  took 
the  opportunity  of  declaring  certain  truths,  which  she 
might  ponder  in  her  heart,"  till  she  sliould  be  able  to 
comprehend  them  more  fully. 

"  Whether  our  conduct  he  inspected,  and  we  an'  nnder  a  rij^ht- 
C0U8  government,  or  under  no  government  at  all." — I'ricstlci/, 
Letter  to  a  Philosophical  Unbeliever  :  quoted  by  Webster. 

Inconsistent. 

"Th(iHglW/jo«  be  long  in  the  first  part  of  the  verse." — Slicridan, 
Art  of  lieailiivj. 

"  And  though  it  is  impospiblc  to  pndong  the  sound  of  this 
word." — Ibitl. 

Sheridan  is  here  evidently  inconsistent  with  hini.self. 

"If  any  member  absents  himself,  he  shall  forfeit  a  penny  ftir 
the  u.sc  of  the  club,  unless  in  case  of  sicUness  imd  iniprlHou- 
inenl." — Sperlatnr. 

If  any  mctnbcr  absent  himself,  that  is,  shall  absent  him- 


ERRORS  IN  THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.      315 

self,  for  the  sentence  has  reference  to  a  future  and  sup- 
posed violation  of  certain  rules. 

"  Saxony  was  left  defenceless,  and  if  it  ivas  conquered,  might 
be  plundered,"  &c. — Johnson,  Life  of  the  King  of  Prussia. 

Were  conquered.  The  power  of  plundering  Saxony 
depended  upon  the  condition  of  its  being  conquered, 
which  at  the  time  it  was  not.  The  subjoined  condition 
of  plundering  Saxony  was  its  previous  conquest.  The 
sentence  ought  to  be,  "  Saxony  was  left  defenceless,  and 
if  it  were  conquered  (should  it  be  conquered),  might  be 
plundered." 


CHAPTER  X. 

PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN  THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB. 

"0  God  of  ray  fathers,  and  Lord  of  mercy,  who  hast  made  all 
things  with  thy  word,  and  ordained  man  through  thy  wisdom, 
that  he  should  have  dominion  over  the  creatures  which  thou  hast 
made." — ]Visdom  of  S(jlomon  ix.  1. 

If  ordained  \B  here  used  simply  without  the  repetition 
of  the  auxiliary  hast,  it  ought  to  be  ordahiedsl,  that  is, 
didst  ordain,  &;c. 

"  Perhaps,  lone  wretch,  unfriended  and  alone, 
In  hovel  vile  thou  rjav'st  lliy  final  moan, 
Clos'd   the  blear'd  eye  ordain'd  no  more  to  weep. 
And  su7ik — unheeded  sunk — in  death's  long  sleep." 

Quotation  in  the  History  of  Suffolk. 

Gavsl  is  right  in  the  second  person,  and  clos'd  wrong 


316  PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN 

in  the  third.  tSwik  in  each  place  ought  to  be  sank'st. 
JSunk  is  doubly  wrong;  the  participle  is  used  in  the 
place  of  the  verb;  and  the  third  person  engrafted  on  it, 
in  the  j)lace  of  the  second. 

These  four  lines  comprehend  (hree  errors ; /o(/r,  in- 
cluding the  repetition  of  stutk. 

The  following  errors  of  a  pimilnr  kind  hnvn  uho  boon 
noticed  in  Pope:  — 

••  Thou  great  First  Cause,  least  underslooil. 
Who  all  my  sense  covfinil ; 
To  know  but  this,  that  thou  art  good. 
And  that  myself  am  blin<l : 

Yet  (jai-e  me  in  this  dark  estate 

To  see  the  good  from  ill ; 
And  binding  nature  fast  to  fate. 

Ij''ft  free  the  human  will.' 

The  relative  icho^  being  of  the   same  person   as  the 
antecedent  thou,  of  course  requires  this  sequence  of 
verbs  conjined,   gave,   and    Ie/(,   to   be  of  the   second 
person. 
Again : — 

■  0  Thnu,  my  voice  inspire. 
Who  touck'il  Isaiah's  hallow'd  lips  with  fire."        Mfssiah. 

"  If  there  arise  a  prophet  among  you,  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams, 
and  ijicith  thee  a  sign  or  a  wonder." — DviiL  .wiii.  I. 

Giveth  is  here  altogether  inconsistent  with  the  preced- 
ing member  of  the  sentence,  and  the  pronoun  he  ouglit 
to  bo  placed  before  the  latter  verb.  As,  if  there  arise 
among  you  a  prophet  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  and 
(if)  he  give  (that  is,  should  he  give)  you  a  sign  or  a 
wonder,  ki.  Nothing  can  justify  the  .sentence  as  it 
stands. 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  317 

"  Have  we,  dnring  the  last  year,  done  the  proportion  of  ivorh 
toivards  xoorking  out  our  own  salvation,  which,  suppose  ive  loere 
certain  of  the  term  of  our  life,  tvould  be  the  proper  quantity  in 
that  time." — Sermon,  Eminent  Divine. 

No  one  can  read  this  sentence  without  being  shocked 
by  its  hideous  cacophony,  independent  of  any  other 
consideration.  Such  sounds  and  such  a  construction 
would  have  carried  death  into  an  Athenian  mob. 
Work,  wards,  working,  in  an  unmixed  and  unredeemed 
sequence,  soon  to  be  followed  by  which,  we,  were,  would, 
might  be  very  suitably  set  to  that  peculiar  kind  of  vil- 
lage music  which  occasionally  serenades  some  "lord  of 
the  creation"  who  may  have  been  detected  in  asserting 
his  prerogative  by  force  of  arms  over  his  weaker  half. 
The  terms  are 

"  Like  hedgehogs,  which 
Lie  tumbling  in  my  barefoot  way,  and  mount 
Their  pricks  up  at  my  footfall."  Shakspeare. 

A  sentence  may  be  constructed  with  harsh  and  rug- 
ged terms  by  design,  when  the  object  of  the  writer 
is  to  make  the  sound  accord  with  the  sense.  Thus, 
when  Pope  describes  Sisyphus  struggling  to  roll  the 
huge  stone  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  the  terms  are  so  ap- 
propriately chosen,  that  we  seem  to  hear  his  giant  sob- 
bings, and  pantings,  and  groanings,  in  the  performance 
of  his  laborious  task. 

"  Up  the  hi<jli  hill  he  heaves  a  huge  round  stone." 

Five  aspirates  or  breathers,  four  of  them  in  immediate 
sequence,  followed  by  a  heavy  spondee  at  the  end  of 
the  line,  give  all  that  can  be  desired  for  fidelity  of 

27* 


313  PKOMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IX 

description.  Deformity  becomes  a  beauty,  because  in- 
tensely characteristic: — 

Virgil  makes  thunder  speak  in  tones  which  cannot 
be  misunderstood: — 

"  Iterum  atque  iterum  frafjor  iutonat  ingcns." 

The  change,  indeed,  of  a  single  word,  the  abstraction 
or  addition  of  a  single  syllable,  will  sometimes  mar  the 
harmony  of  a  well-balanced  sentence. 

"  From  every  ship  an  island  was  seen,  about  two  leagues  to  the 
north,  whose  flat  and  verdant  fields,  well  stored  with  wood  and 
watered  with  many  rivulets,  presented  the  aspect  of  a  delightful 
country." — lidbiiison. 

As  Lord  Brougham  has  well  observed,  change  ver- 
dant into  r/rccn,  and  the  harmony  of  the  passage  is 
destroyed. 

In  the  passage,  however,  from  an  '*  Eminent  Divine," 
the  nature  of  the  subject  aftbrds  no  palliation  for  its 
rugged  and  uncouth  construction.  But  what  is  meant 
by  in  (hat  time?  The  term  of  life  immediately  pre- 
ceding dwells  upon  the  mind,  and  connects  itself  with 
the  phrase  in  that  lime.  But  probably  in  that  time 
refers  to  the  last  year,  a  reference  which  is  by  no  means 
clear.  Then  again  that  which  was  a  proportion  be- 
comes a  qxiantily ;  and  again  tcere  ought  to  have  been 
had  been  ;  and  tvould  be,  uauld  have  been. 

"The  right  of  man  to  the  means  of  existence,  on  the  sole 
ground  that  he  exists,  has  been  vehemently  and  loudly  asserte<l ; 
yet  is  a  factitious  sentimfut,  notwitlisfiinding."-  ('hulvierx. 
Driclgnratfr  Trriih.ir. 

Yet  18  it ;  not,  ijet  /.-•. 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  319 

"  The  worship  and  service  of  the  glorified  spirits  in  heaven  in 
not  represented  to  us  as  a  cold  intellectual  investigation,  but  as 
the  worship  and  service  of  gratitude  and  love." —  Wilbetforce's 
Practical  View. 


"Worship  and  service"  are,  not  is,  not. 


% 


"  From  the  same  position  he  may  turn  his  eye  to  the  left  of 
Goat  Island,  on  the  American  side,  and  witness  a  still  more  lofty 
cataract,  but  more  modest ;  not  yet  presuming  to  assert  such  pro- 
found pretensions,  descending  in  a  silvery  sheet,  as  if  from  an 
artificial  shelf,  connecting  the  island  with  the  shore,  and  dashing 
on  the  rocks  below,  displays  a  vast  bed  of  fleecy  whiteness,  like 
a  storm  of  the  thickest  and  purest  snow,  reflected  by  the  sun." — 
Colton.  [ 

The  noun  cataract  is  in  the  objective  case,  and  all  the 
participles  and  adjectives  connected  with  it.  We  cannot, 
therefore,  have  the  verb  displays  standing  here  without 
any  nominative  case.  The  author  evidently  gets  con- 
fused, and  sinks  under  the  magnitude  of  his  subject. 
"And  dashing  on  the  rocks  below,  it  (the  cataract)  dis- 
plays a  vast  bed  of  fleecy  whiteness." 

"  Diodorus,  whose  design  was  to  refer  all  occurrences  to  years, 
is  of  more  credit,  on  a  point  of  chronology,  than  Plutarch,  or  any 
other  that  ivrite  lives  by  the  lump." — Benlley,  Dissertation  on 
Themistoclcs'  Epistles.     Loivth. 

Any  other  that  zvrites,  or  any  others  that  ivrite. 

"  Let  us  consider  how  many  things  we  formerly  knew,  but  now 
have  either  wholly  forgotten,  or  l)ut  very  imperfectly  remembered 
for  want  of  use." — Rennel,  Sermon  25. 

It   may  be  said    with   propriety,  that   we  have  now 

*  Had  the  author  a  principle  in  view  here  ?  or  is  this  an  acci- 
dental error  overlooked?     See  the  question  discussed  under  Noun. 


820  PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IX 

at  this  present  time,  either  wholly  forgotten  a  thing,  or 
but  imperfectly  remember  it,  but  not  remembered^  for 
we  are  here  speaking  of  the  degree  of  present  recollec- 
tion, not  of  past. 

"  In  cntUcss  error  hurVd."  Pope. 

"  'Tis  these  that  early  taint  the  female  soul."  Ibid. 

JlurVd  in  error  does  not  seem  a  very  appropriate  ex- 
pression, whilst  '7Y5  these  (though  perhaps  the  expres- 
sion may  be  supported  by  other  authorities)  is,  after  all, 
a  grammatical  discord. 

"  A  single  glance  at  his  own  engraving  of  this  bcauliful  head, 
at  the  symmetrical  and  elegant  formation  of  the  whole  fabric,  the 
nice  correspondence  and  adjustment  uf  all  (its)  parts,  the  perfect 
harmony  between  the  cranium  and  (the)  faee  and  in  all  the  details 
of  each,  tlcnumstrali'  most  unequivocally,  that  it  is  a  natural  forma- 
tion, and  a  very  fine  work  of  nature  too." — Lawrence's  Lectures. 

The  author  is  here  confounded  by  a  multiplicity  of 
images,  and  seems  to  forget  that  a  single  glance  at  all 
these  demonstrates — not  ilt'7nojisirate;  besides,  the  beauty 
or  the  symmetry  of  an  object  is  not  demonstrated 
by  a  glance ;  the  demonstration  is  inherent  in  the  object 
itself.  The  truth  of  a  mathematical  proposition  appeals 
to  the  reason  of  man,  but  it  is  not  demonstrateJ  by  that 
reason.  It  is  true,  or  false,  in  itself  'J'lie  sight  is  the 
instrument  by  which  we  perceive  beauty  in  an  object, 
but  it  docs  not  demonstrate  it.  Again,  we  expect  all 
its  j)art.s,  and  not  all  parts,  which  is  general  instead  of 
being  particular;  and  in  tlio  i)hrase  "the  perfect  har- 
mony between  the  cranium  and  lace,"  we  expect  the 
face,  and  not  face  oidy,  because  they  are  distinct  and 
Bcparatc  objects. 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  321 

"  Wherefore  h'cJc  ye  at  my  sacrifice,  and  at  mine  offerings,  wliich 
I  have  commanded  in  my  habitation,  and  honorest  thy  sons  above 
me,  to  make  yourselves  fat  with  the  chiefest  of  all  the  offerings 
of  Israel,  my  people." — 1  Samuel  11.  29. 

There  is,  in  this  sentence,  a  strange  confusion  of  per- 
sons, and  an  extraordinary  abruptness  of  transition. 

"  Its  tufted  flowers  and  leafy  bands 
In  one  continuous  curve  expands, 
When  herb  or  flowret  rarely  smile." 

Glastonbury  Abbey,  A  Puem. 

Here  are  two  errors  in  three  lines. 

"  Tufted  flowers  and  leafy  bands 
In  one  continuous  curve  expand" — not  expands. 

Then  herb  or  flowret  being  disjoined,  the  verb  smile 
must  be  smiles. 

"  The  unwieldy  elephant, 
To  make  them  mirth,  used  all  his  might,  and  wreathed 
His  lithe  proboscis."  Paradise  Lost,  book  iv. 

Writhed'\\oxii\di  surely  be  more  appropriate  than  wreathed. 

"  And  the  King  said,  If  he  be  alone,  there  is  tidings  in  his 
mouth." — 2  Sam.  xvii.  2"). 

Perhaps  is  may  in  this  case  be  admissible,  the  word 
tidings  being  used  in  the  plural  form  only,  and  may  be 
considered  as  collective  information.  We  say,  what  is 
the  news?     Is  there  anv  news? 

"There  is  nothing  on  the  part  of  God  to  refuse  this  victory  to 
you,  nothing  in  yourselves  to  make  you  incapable  of  enjoying 
the  blessing." — St-rmo}). 

The  dependence  which  the  infinitive  mood  to  refuse 


322  PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN 

has  upon  the  preceding  part  of  the  sentence  is  much  too 
slight;  the  same  may  be  said  of  to  rnaJce.  The  meaning 
seems  to  be,  there  is  nothing  on  the  part  of  God  wliich 
would  induce  him  to  refuse  this  victory  to  you.  There 
is  no  reason,  on  the  part  of  God,  why  he  should  re- 
fuse, &c. 

"Ami  Leuli  also  with  her  children  camo  noiir,  and  liowed //icm- 
selves  :  and  after  came  Joseph  near  and  Kachel,  and  they  bowed 
themselves." — Gen.  xxxiii.  7. 

The  word  children  being  in  the  objective  case,  cannot 
form  a  second  nominative  case,  in  conjunction  with 
Leah,  and  therefore  grammatically  the  verb  hoiced 
has  but  one  nominative  case,  and  that  in  the  singular 
number.  The  pronoun  theij  ought,  therefore,  to  have 
been  introduced  before  lowed.  "And  Leah  also  with 
her  children  came  near,  and  they  bowed  themselves; 
and  after  came  Joseph  and  Rachel  near,  and  they  bowed 
themselves." 

"  And  Peter,  fastening  his  eyes  upon  him  with  John,  sauI, 
Look  on  us." — Ads  iii.  1. 

The  verb  said,  in  iMigli.sh,  may  be  cither  .singular 
or  j>lural,  and  therefore  leaves  an  important  jirinciple 
untouched,  namely,  whether  a  nominative  case  of  the 
singular  number,  followed  by  another  noun  in  the  ob- 
jective ca.se,  connected  with  it  by  the  preposition  tvith, 
and  not  by  the  coj)ulative  conjunction  and,  may  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  verb  of  the  j)lural  number;  that  i.s,  whether 
the  virtual  meaning  of  a  sentence  shall  supersede  its 
8i/u(nclic(d  principle.  A  variety  of  e.\ami)les  may  bo 
pnxluced,  on  botii  sides  of  the  question;  so  that,  as  far 
as  authority  goes,  the  matter  cannot  bo  decided. 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  323 

In  the  case  before  us,  the  Greek  has  tlftt,  and  the 
Latin,  duit,  both  in  favor  of  syntactical  rule. 

"  But  a  certain  man  named  Ananias,  with  Sapphira  Lis  wife, 
sold  a  possession." — Acts  v.  1. 

Again:  in  English,  sold  may  be  either  singular  or  plu- 
ral :  but  both  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  the  equivalent  of 
sold  is  of  the  singular  number,  again  in  favor  of  the 
rules  of  syntax. 

"  Then  went  tbc  captain,  with  the  officers,  and  brought  them 
without  violence." — Acts  v.  26, 

Brought  is  again  doubtful  as  to  number;  but  in  the 
Latin  and  Greek  the  verb  again  is  singular. 

-A-Cnophon  says,  'K^l8uX^^v  avv  t'oij  tlaxocn'oij  vixa. 

All  these  examples  are  in  favor  of  syntax. 
We  now  come  to  examples  favoring  the  other  side 
of  the  question. 

"  Oleander,  with  six  hundred  soldiers  whom  he  had  employed, 
were  publicly  executed." — Goldsmith's  History  of  Greece,  c.  14. 

Here  we  get  at  the  grammatical  intention  of  the  author 
in  the  verb  ivere.  If  the  sentence  had  run,  Oleander 
and  six  hundred  soldiers  whom  he  employed  were  pub- 
licly executed,  the  expression  would  have  been  clear 
and  grammatical,  and  the  verb  ivere  would  have  been 
right.  Grammatically,  ivere  is  wrong.  The  question 
is,  can  it  be  admitted  on  the  ground  of  the  virtual 
meaning  of  the  sentence?  The  authority  of  Goldsmith 
in  grammar  amounts  to  nothing,  and  ought  not  to  enter 
into  the  question. 

On   the   other   hand,   however,  there   are   classical 
authorities  in  favor  of  this  mode  of  expression ;  as, — 


324  I'KOMISCUOUS  EKROKS  IN 

"Dum  cfiuites  pra-liiinlur,  IJnitus  cum  i>cililil»iis,  qnos  filiiis 
ejus  adduxonit,  nofiue  iu  priore  pupua  adl'iicrant,  poslrcmani 
Romauorum  acicin  iiivaduut." — Sallust. 

"Svrus  cum  illo  vcslro  susurraut." — 

Tkijkxt.  Iltaul.  3.  1.  64. 

••  Ilia  cum  Ni-H  <lc  Xumitorc  .wv'/."'  OviD. 

'•  liLiuo  cum  Irulrc  i^uuuuis 
.lura  ihibunt."  Xinr.n.,  .««.  i.  206. 

'•  On  the  morrow  when  Afrrippa  icas  come,  ami  Ucrnice,  witli 
great  pomj)." — Acts  xxv.  2H. 

That  is,  when  Agrijipa  was  come,  and  Bcrnice  was 
come.  So  far  riglit;  but,  wlicn  it  is  added,  "and  was 
entered  into  the  place  of  hearing,"  »Scc.,  the  sentence  is 
faulty.  In  the  former  member  of  the  sentence,  the 
terms  are  spoken  of  separately,  and  have  separate 
verbs,  in  the  one  case  expressed,  in  the  other  understood. 
In  the  second  member  of  the  sentence,  they  arc  spoken 
of  in  common,  and  have  one  verb  in  common,  and  there- 
fore we  expect  and  they  tvere,  not  was.  The  English 
translation  in  this  point  deviates  both  from  the  Latin 
and  the  Greek:  — 

"  Postcro  ipitur  die  ri^ra  vcnissct  Ajrrippa,  ct  Ikrnicc,  euro 
multi'i  ostcntatiunc,  cl  tntrnhspnt." 

The  Greek  maintains  the  same  principle,  though  under 
a  dificrent  form: — 

Tj  oif  itiain>tov  iWyoiToj  rov  'Aypitt/ta,  xai  r^j  B»pwx»;{.  /urti  rtoXXrf 
^t-TO'iiaf,  xoi  liaiMorruf. 

Christ  hrhcUl  hi/  Fait/i.  The  title  of  a  published  ser- 
mon. This  is  an  unfortunate  title;  for  the  grammati- 
cal and  legitimate  meaning  of  beheld  in  saw,  not  seen. 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  325 

Christ  beheld,  or  saw,  something  bj  faith.  But  the 
meaning  intended  is,  Christ  seen  or  beholden,  by  faith. 
Btlteld  is  the  imperfect  past  tense  of  the  verb,  gram- 
matically and  legitimately.  Beheld  is  sometimes  used 
as  a  participle ;  but  when  so  used  is  wrong  neverthe- 
less, and  most  certainly  ought  not  to  be  used  when  by 
such  use  ambiguity  is  occasioned,  and  the  balance  of 
propriety  decidedly  against  it.  "  Christ  seen  by  Faith" 
would  have  answered  every  purpose,  and  "  Christ  be- 
holden by  Faith,"  would  have  been  in  accordance  with 
Scriptural  phraseology,  at  the  same  time  that  an  ambi- 
guous use  of  the  term  beheld  would  have  been  avoided. 

Contraction  of  the  Verb  and  Partici'ple. 

In  the  Scriptures,  words  ending  in  ed,  whether  verbs 
or  participles,  seem  to  have  been,  as  a  general  rule, 
pronounced  distinctly,  so  that  the  termination  ed,  formed 
a  separate  syllable.  We  still  find  this  pronunciation 
among  our  peasantry ;  and  the  parish  clerks  of  country 
churches,  perhaps  without  an  exception,  continue  to 
give  full  force  to  the  final  syllable  of  verbs  and  par- 
ticiples ending  in  ed.  It  is  amongst  these  that  we 
must  trace  the  tenacity  of  custom,  and  judge  of  that 
which  has  been  from  that  which  is.  In  the  Psalms,  in 
particular,  and  in  the  rhythmical  parts  of  Scripture, 
the  retention  of  ed,  as  a  distinct  syllable,  is  often  im- 
peratively demanded.  We  find,  however,  that,  in  the 
present  age,  even  in  the  reading  of  Scripture  and  the 
liturgy,  no  regular  principle  is  observed,  and  every 
minister  seems  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  own  inclina- 
28 


326  PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN 

tion  ;  so  tlmt  one  man  reads  the  following  testing  pas- 
sage with  the  abbreviation  of  ed  into  t/,  whilst  another 
reads  it  with  the  distinct  enunciation  of  the  final  sylla- 
ble :- 

"  IJrothron,  I  doclurc  unto  you  the  Gospol  which  I  proiich-cd 
untu  you.  which  also  ye  have  rcceiv-cd,  aud  wherein  ye  stand  ; 
liy  wliich  also  ye  aresav-ed,  if  ye  keep  in  memory  what  1  preach- 
ed unto  you,  unless  ye  have  believ-ed  in  vain.  For  I  delivcr-cii 
unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  I  also  recciv-ed." — 1  Cur.  xv.  1. 

Itseems,  however,  but  right  thatScripture  should  be  read 
in  the  same  way  in  which  it  was  read  at  the  time  when 
the  translation  was  made.  Every  sentence  is,  or  ought 
to  be,  constructed  with  due  regard  to  harmonious  pro- 
])ortion ;  and  the  curtailment  of  a  verb,  or  a  participle, 
of  its  final  syllable  will  often  as  eflectualiy  mar  this 
object,  as  it  would  do  were  we  to  contract  the  ditJ.sylla- 
bles  of  Chaucer  and  Spenser  into  monosyllables.  If 
we  preserve  the  style  of  Scripture  and  its  antique 
phraseology,  why  should  we  ada])t  to  it  the  tripping 
enunciation  of  modern  times? 

When  we  leave  the  field  of  Scripture,  modern  Ui^ago 
has  sanctioned  the  fusion  of  the  final  syllable  of  certain 
verbs  and  particii)lcs  with  the  preceding  consonant, 
more  particularly  when  cd  is  preceded  by  a  liquid,  or 
with  2  or  r,  for  the  sound  of  these  two  letters  is  con- 
tinuous, and  glides  with  facility  into  the  following  ed. 
The  contraction  of  «/  is,  of  course,  formed  by  the  elision 
of  c,  leaving  (/  and  not  t  remaining.  Custom  has  sanc- 
tioned the  contraction  of  a  few  words  from  c(/into  /,  as 
feel  felt,  smell  smelt;  and  in  some  of  these  wonls  there 
is  no  violation  of  euphony;  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  this  usage  is  by  no  means  applicable  to  our 


THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB.  327 

verbs  and  participles  generally;  for  to  admit  t  in  tlie 
place  of  d  is  not  a  contraction  simply,  but  a  substitution. 
It  violates  the  grammatical  analysis  of  the  term,  and, 
where  it  has  not  euphony  to  recommend  it,  becomes  a 
barbarous  deformity.  The  sound  of  t,  compared  with 
that  of  d,  is  harsh,  wiry,  and  curt,  and  when  preceded 
by  a  mute,  grates  like  a  crushed  pebble  in  the  machinery 
of  articulation.  In  verbs  or  participles  in  which  d 
coalesces  with  ease,  i  is  often  altogether  abhorrent;  we 
can  say  spurri'd,  and  kilVd,  and  climbed,  and  2^^'ov^d,  and 
remov\l,  and  graz\l;  but  we  indistinctly  shrink  from 
sjnind,  and  kilt,  and  climbt,  and  i^rovt,  and  removt,  and 
grazt.  He  must  be  a  bold  man,  or  else  a  vain  man,  who 
on  his  own  authority,  presumes  to  introduce  such  muti- 
lated cripples  as  these  upon  his  pages.  Yet,  in  six  pages 
forming  the  preface  to  "  Guesses  at  Truth,"  third  edi- 
tion, we  find  the  following  terms  :  distinguisht,  furnisht, 
reacht,  increast,  hold,  affixt,  nourisht,  developt,  fixt, 
followed  by  specimens  of  a  similar  kind  in  the  body  of 
the  work.  Words  like  these  are  sufficient  to  justify 
the  description  of  Byron  already  quoted,  where  ho 
stisimatizes  the  English  language  as 

"  Our  harsh,  northern,  whistling',  grunting,  guttural, 
"Which  we're  obliged  to  hiss,  and  spit,  and  sputter  all." 

In  justice  to  the  English  language,  it  must,  however, 
be  observed,  that  these  words  are  not  English,  and 
that  it  would  be  equally  just  to  exhibit,  as  a  fiiir 
specimen  of  the  English  population,  some  unsightly 
creature 

"Curtailed  of  his  fair  proportion, 
Cheated  of  feature  by  dissembling  nature, 
Deform'd  unfinish'd,"  Suakspeare. 


328      ERRORS  IN  THE  USE  OF  THE  VERB. 

as  to  parade  these  gurglings,  and  hissings,  and  snap- 
pings,  as  average  examples  of  the  structure  of  our  verbs 
and  participles.  "Guesses  at  Truth"  is  an  interesting 
work,  and  a  successful  one,  and  it  needed  not  these 
adventitious  mutilations  to  attract  attention.  Few 
animals,  indeed,  can  be  improved  by  lopping  off  their 
natural  elongations,  and  substituting  a  short,  imperti- 
nent-looking tail. 

Are  we  doomed  to  admit  into  the  English  language 
such  terms  as  quackt^  stackt,  aicaJd,  nald^  i^'fff,/<^'j(,  &c.? 
Should  some  reckless  innovator  attempt  it,  may  we 
have  the  satisfaction  of  writing  over  him, 

"  He  with  his  horrid  crew 
Lay  vanquished!"  Milto.v. 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  PARTICIPLE.  329 


SECTION  VIT. 
THE  PARTICIPLE. 

CHAPTER   I. 

ITS  CHARACTER. 

Every  complete  verb  is  expressive  of  an  atlnbuie,  of 
time,  and  of  an  assertion.  Now,  if  we  deprive  the  verb 
of  its  vitality,  that  is,  of  assertion,  there  will  still  re-  ■ 
main  the  attribute,  and  the  time  or  tense.  The  part 
of  speech  which  expresses  an  attribute  and  time  is 
called  a  participle  or  participator,  inasmuch  as  it  par- 
takes of  a  verb  in  marking  time,  and  of  an  adjective  iu 
expressing  an  attribute.  The  English  participle  is  sub- 
ject to  inflexion  with  reference  to  time,  and  also  varies 
in  its  active  from  its  passive  condition  :  as,  loving,  about 
to  love,  loved,  about  to  be  loved;  but  it  undergoes  no 
inflexion,  or  change  in  number,  case  or  gender.  Lov- 
ing, as  a  participle,  never  varies.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  about  to  love,  loved,  about  to  be  loved.  We  are 
not,  however,  on  this  account  to  suppose  that  our  par- 
ticiples have  neither  number,  case,  nor  gender.  The 
same  form  of  the  word  serves  under  intellectual  distinc- 
tions, just  as  amans,  loving,  is  either  masculine,  femi- 
nine, or  neuter.  At  the  same  time,  ambiguity  can  seldom 
happen  from  this  cause,  since  the  juxtaposition  of  the 
participle  to  the  noun,  of  which  it  expresses  an  attri- 
bute, is  sufficient  to  form  an  inseparable  connection  be- 

28* 


330  VERB  IN  THE  PLACE 

tween  the  two.  There  is,  therefore,  not  much  room  for 
error  in  the  use  of  the  participle. 

The  language  is  not  answerable  for  any  ambiguity 
that  may  arise  from  the  misplacing  of  a  participle :  as 
in  the  following  examples: — 

"And  all  the  people  followed  bim  trembling." — 1  Sam.  xiii.  7. 

The  term  tremhlinj  referring  to  the  people,  and  not  to 
hiin  (Saul),  is  misplaced:  "And  all  the  people  trembling 
followed  him," 

"  Thy  father  and  I  have  sought  thee  sorrotciug." — Luke  ii.  48. 

The  participle  sorrowing  may  agree  either  with  the 
terms  father  and  /,  or  with  the  term  thee.  "Thy 
father  and  I,  sorrowing,  have  sought  thee."  The  sen- 
tence so  constructed  would  not,  however,  read  so  well 
as  under  its  present  form. 


CHAPTER   II. 

VERB  IN  THE  PLACE  OF  THE  PARTICIPLE, 

In  speaking  of  the  participle,  I  feel  it  necessary 
again  to  revert  to  the  confusion  that  exists  iu  many  of 
our  authors,  with  respect  to  the  use  of  the  past  tense  of 
the  verb  in  the  place  of  the  participle.  To  use  the 
words  of  Uarris : — 

"  It  would  he  well  if  all  writers,  who  endeavor  to  be  aocurate, 
would  endeavor  to  avoid  a  corruption,  at  present  so  prevalt-nt,  of 
Bayinjf  it  icas  wrutr,  for  it  ints  iirittai  ;  he  was  ilrorr,  for  he  was 
(Iriri.ti  ;  I  have  went,  for  I  have  gour  ;  iu  all  wliiih  insfauces,  a 
verb  is  absurdly  used  to  supply  the  proper  participle,  without  any 
necosBity  from  tht-  want  of  such  word."— -/ATnir«,  c.  ix 


OF  THE  PARTICIPLE.  331 

A  great  deal  of  mischief  has  arisen  in  this  respect 
from  versifiers,  who  find  the  past  tense  of  the  verb  more 
convenient  as  a  rhyme,  than  the  participial  termination, 
and  sometimes,  having  neither  scruples  of  conscience 
nor  knowledge  of  grammar,  do  not  hesitate  to  adopt  a 
sound  which  suits  their  present  purpose.  What  a  god- 
send is  hid  in  the  place  of  hidden,  in  the  following  lines 
from  "The  Golden  Grove: — 

"  That  vertue  which  in  happie  state 
Is  darke  unknowen,  and  hid, 
Appoares,  and  shews  itself  more  bright 
Adversitie  amid." 

Milton,  in  this  respect,  is  frequently  inconsistent 
with  himself,  using  the  past  tense  of  the  verb  in  the 
place  of  the  participle  or  not,  just  as  it  happened  to 
suit  the  metrical  arrangement  of  his  verse.  He  says 
rightly— 

"  The  roof 
Of  thickest  covert  was  inwoven  shade, 
Laurel  and  myrtle."  Paradise  Lost,  book  iv. 

Not  so  in  the  following: — 

"  And  to  the  ground 
With  solemn  adoration,  down  they  cast 
Their  crowns,  inwove  with  amaranth  and  gold." 

Ibid,  book  iii. 

"  At  last 
Words  interwove  with  sighs  found  out  their  way." 

Ibid,  book  i. 

"  To  be  avenged 
On  him  who  had  stole  Jove's  authentic  fire, 
Too  divine  to  be  mistook."  Ibid. 


332       VEHHS  IN  THE  PLACE  OF  THE  PARTICIPLE. 

"And  the  widows  of  Ashur  were  loud  iu  their  wail, 
And  the  idols  are  broke  in  the  temple  of  liaal, 
And  the  might  of  the  Gentile,  tins7no(e  l»y  the  sword, 
Hath  melted  like  snow^  iu  the  glance  of  the  Lord." 

Bvuox,  Dislrucd'on  of  Sennacherib. 

To  put  this  corruption  in  its  full  aspect  of  deformity, 
let  us  take  a  scries  of  irregular  verjas,  and  use  the  past 
tense  of  the  verb  instead  of  the  participle. 


Present. 

Iniperfec 

t. 

Participlt 

Bear, 

To  brill  f/  forth. 

The  child  was 

bare,  i 

nstead 

of  born. 

The  wind  had 

blew. 

(( 

blown. 

They  had 

chose. 

II 

chosen. 

Cleave, 

To  adhere, 

They  had 

clave, 

« 

cleaved, 

Cleave, 

To  split, 

They  had 

clove, 

(( 

cloven. 

The  wood  was 

clove. 

K 

cloven. 

The  cock  had 

crew, 

il 

crowed. 

The  bird  was 

flew. 

II 

flown. 

The  money  was 

gave. 

11 

given. 

The  people  were 

went. 

II 

gone. 

The  tree  was 

grew. 

l( 

grown. 

The  tree  was 

hewed. 

II 

hewn. 

^J'he  lesson  was 

knew. 

II 

known. 

The  man  was 

saw. 

II 

seen. 

The  men  were 

slew, 

II 

slain. 

The  stone  was 

threw, 

II 

thrown. 

Glaring  and  hideous  as  these  examples  are,  tlioy  aro 
grammatically  in  the  very  same  condition  as  a  thou- 
sand others,  whicli    might    be    produced    from    every 


PROPER  USE  OF  THE  PARTICIPLE.  833 

grade  of  English  literature.  They  are  on  a  par  exactly 
with  the  "  unsmote  Gentile"  and  the  "  idols  are  hroJce'^ 
of  Byron,  and  the  "too  divine  to  bo  mistook^^  and 
"  words  interwove  with  sighs,"  of  Milton,  &c.  &c.  &c. 
Many  examples  of  this  kind  are  given  under  the  head 
of  the  verb,  and  form  an  anomaly  not  to  be  found,  one 
would  hope,  in  the  language  of  any  other  civilized 
people  on  earth. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PROPER   USE    OF   THE    PARTICIPLE. 

It  is  gratifying  to  turn  from  these  ungrammatical 
medleys  to  any  passage  in  which  the  participle  is  not 
displaced,  but  gracefully  woven  into  the  texture  of  the 
verse,  as  in  the  following  passage : — 

"  But  let  us  leave  Queeu  Mab  awhile, 
'J'hrough  many  a  gate,  o'er  many  a  stile, 
I'hat  now  bad  goUen  by  his  wile 

Her  dear  Pigwiggen  kissing  ; 
And  tell  how  Oberon  did  fare, 
Who  grew  as  mad  as  any  hare, 
AVhcn  he  had  sought  each  place  with  care, 
And  found  his  Queen  was  missing." 

Drayton's  Ni/mphidia. 

"  Grease  that's  sweaten 
From  the  murderer's  gibbet."  Suakspeare. 

"At  mortal  battailes  had  he  been  fifteen, 
AnH/ouglUen  for  our  faith  at  Tramisscno." 

Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales. 

"On  ihc foiighlvn  field."  Milton. 


334  CONFUSION  OF 

"The  barren  {jrouiid  was  full  of  wicked  weeds, 
"Which  she  herself  had  soiren  all  about, 
Now  ijroictn  great  of  little  seeds."  Spkxser. 

"  For  he  hath  hroJic/i  the  pates  of  brass  and  smitlai  the  bars  in 
sunder." 

Who  could  tolerate  brole  and  smote,  iu  the  place  of 
Irokeii  and  sniitlcn? 

"His  countenance  meanwhile 
Was  hidden  from  mv  view,  and  ho  remained 
Unrecognized  ;  but,  stricken  by  the  sight, 
AVith  slacken'd  footsteps  I  advanced." 

Wordsworth's  Wanderer. 

"  The  bold  youth, 
Of  soul  impetuous,  and  the  bashful  maid, 
Sniil(<.n  while  all  the  promises  of  Life 
Arc  opening  round  her."  Jbid. 

Grammatically  speaking,  Wordsworth  is  perhaps  the 
purest  of  English  poets. 


cu  A  i'T  !•;  u   rv  . 

CONFUSION   OF   NOUNS   AND   I'AIITICII'LKS. 

WiiKNEVKii  a  participle  takes  an  article,  it  becomes 
virtually  and  grammatically  a  iiouu,  and  is  subject  to 
precisely  the  same  regimen. 

"  AImij;h1y  (Jod,  Ity  whose  pnividcnce  thy  porvant  .lolin  I5api  isi 
was  wonderfully  borne,  and  .'<ent  to  prepare  the  way  of  thy  Son 
our  Saviour  by  preaching  <>/  repentance." — Collect. 

Ill  the  first  place,  why  not  Ihc  Bajjtist,  in  accordance 


NOUNS  AND  PARTICIPLES.  835 

witli  the  terms  of  Scripture  6  ^artnatrji?  Then  the 
omission  of  the  article  the  before  preaching  throws  the 
sentence  out  of  grammatical  order,  and  changes  its 
meaning.  The  preaching  of  repentance, preac/im^'  being 
under  such  construction  a  noun,  would  have  rendered 
the  passage  clear  and  correct.  As  it  stands,  it  is  wrong 
in  grammar,  and  wrong  in  sense.  A  man  may  preach 
of  repentance  without  preaching  repentance ;  but  the 
object  of  John  was  to  preach  repentance,  and  enforce 
it,  and  not  to  preach  of  or  concerning  repentance,  which 
preaching  might  be  against  repentance,  and  not  in 
favor  of  it.  In  this  passage,  the  error  of  confounding 
the  noun  and  the  participle  is  striking  and  obvious. 

As  in  this  sentence  an  error  arises  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  particle  of,  so  the  following  passage  is  un- 
grammatical  from  the  want  of  it : — 

"  Since  I  have  intimated  that  the  f^reatest  decorum  is  to  be  pre- 
served, iu  the  hcsloiving  our  good  olfices." — Spectator,  No.  292. 

Here  we  must  either  have  "  in  the  bestowing  of  our 
good  offices,"  or  "in  hestowing  our  good  offices;  in  the 
first  case  hestowing  being  a  noun,  in  the  second  a  parti- 
ciple, with  an  active  transitive  signification. 

"  But  he  had  another  errand  in  Persia  than  buying  of  slaves." — 
Bentley. 

This  sentence  is  liable  to  the  same  objection.  Ought 
to  be  "than  tlie  buying  of  slaves." 

"  And  when  they  saw  the  chief  captain  and  the  soldiers,  they 
left  beating  of  Paul." — Ads  xxi.  35. 

The  phrase  "left  heating  of  PauT^  savors  strongly  of 


336  PREFIX  BEFORE  TUE  PARTICIPLE. 

the  nursery,  and  is  totally  unjustifiable,  at  any  period 
of  the  En;?lisli  language. 


CUAPTEll   V. 

PREFIX  BEFORE  THE  PARTICIPLE. 

Such  phrases  as  "I  am  a-coming,"  "he  goes  a-beg- 
ging," frequently  occur  both  in  conversation  and  print; 
and,  though  an  educated  person  would  not  say  "  I  am  a- 
coming,"  but  "  I  am  coming,"  yet  the  same  person  would 
not  scruple  to  say,  "  he  goes  a-begging ;"  such  is  the 
authority  of  custom.  In  matters  of  euphony,  we  might 
often  take  a  lesson  from  our  own  domestics;  and,  suppos- 
ing a  in  such  case  to  be  a  prefix,  and  not  a  preposition 
abbreviated  in  the  grammatical  sense  of  a  preposition, 
a  coming  is  in  many  instances,  as  a  matter  of  articula- 
tion, far  preferable  to  coming.  In  am  comi'nr/,  the  colli- 
sion between  in  and  c  is  anything  but  agreeable,  tlie  first 
being  close,  the  latter  open.  There  is  none  of  that 
imperceptible  gliding  from  one  letter  to  another  so 
grateful  to  the  musical  car  of  the  Greek  and  the  lloman. 
The  sensation  is  that  of  being  stumped,  as  the  American 
would  appropriately  dcsciribe  it.  The  introduction  of  a 
between  m  and  c  renders  the  pronunciation  easy  and 
flowing.  Considered  as  a  prefix,  the  question  of  gram- 
mar would  not  be  affected  by  it.  Some  expressions  of 
this  kind,  as  a-begging,  a-fishing,  <S:c.,  have  established 


PREFIX  BEFORE  THE  PARTICIPLE.  337 

themselves  in  the  English  language,  and  are  therefore 
deserving  of  our  attention. 

The  phrases  just  alluded  to  are  by  some  interpreted 
as  at  coming,  at  begging.  At  other  times,  however,  on, 
rather  than  a/,  is  required,  and  even  expressed;  and  this 
prefix  a  has  on  the  whole  a  very  general  and  a  very 
loose  application.  Again,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  a 
used  in  a  similar  manner,  where  on  seems  to  be  required. 

"It  would  be  pretty  hard  to  believe  that  he  would  send  a-beg- 
ging to  Sicily." — Bentlei/. 

That  is,  for  the  purpose  of  begging — on  begging. 
Again : — 

"Yet  the  same  man  here,  in  his  great  wisdom,  would  have  a 
learned  university  make  barbarism  a-purpose"  (i.  e.  on  purpose). 
— Bentley,  Disseriaiion  on  Phalaris. 

"  They  take  coach,  which  costs  them  ninepence,  or  they  go 
a-foot,  which  costs  them  nothing"  {on  foot) . —  Goldsmith,  Citizen 
of  the  World. 

"The  depths  a-trembling  fell."  Hopkixs. 

"  And  when  he  thinks,  good  easy  man,  full  surely 
His  greatness  is  a- ripening."  Shakspeake. 

"  Our  grandfathers  left  more  glory  by  their  exployting  great 
acts,  than  we  shall  do  by  forging  a-new  words  and  uncouth 
phrases." 

Unless  a  is  in  this  case  a  misprint,  and  ought  to  be 
joined  to  new  (anew),  it  must  stand  here  for  of.  The 
sense,  however,  does  not  require  aneiv,  but  of  new. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  particle  a  apparently  used  for 
at^  for  on,  and  for  of,  and  the  abbreviation  or  corruption 
has  probably  arisen  from  our  natural  tendency  to  cut 
29 


338  PREFIX  BEFORE  TUE  PAKTICU'LE. 

words  as  short  as  possible  in  familiar  conversation.  lu 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Gospel, as  Lowth  has  pointed  out,  what 
in  our  English  is  translated  "I  go  ajishiiKf  (John 
xxi.  3),  is  there,  "Ic  wylle  gan  on  fixoth,"  I  will  go  on 
fishing,  a-fishing.  We  say  twelve  o'clock  for  of  the 
clock,  or  on  the  clock,  on  the  same  clipping  principle, 
lie  is  aloft,  on  the  loft. 

It  is  quite  possible,  however,  that  some  of  our  present 
English  words,  which  take  a  before  them  in  the  parti- 
ciple, as  a-coming,  may  have  only  retained  the  common 
Saxon  prefix  gc  and  he  under  a  different  form.  Thus 
gechjijode^  or  IccJcaped,  hecleopod^  hecli/ped,  has  become 
yeclcjied,  ijdeji'd,  Vclqi'd^  from  the  verb  chjpian,  to 
call,  invite.  "  ^^anega  synt  rjcchjpodc,^''  Many  are 
called  (Matt.  xx.  IG).  So  gecnman  might  be  changed 
\nio  a  coming,  without  much  violence  in  pronunciation. 
In  defence  of  this  supposition,  we  have  an  example  in 
the  following  old  verses: — 

"Siimcr  is  /(Mimcn  in, 
Lhutlc  sing  cuccu, 
Uroweth  sed,  and  bloweth  mcil, 
And  springclh  wdc  nu. 

Hiug  cuccu,  cuccu." 

Here  we  have  i  cinnen,  not  a  coming,  }uat  as  geclypode 
became  ychjpode,  and  i^chjpodc,  and  i^clcpt.  Again, 
on  wasa common  Anglo-Saxon  prefix  before  nouns  and 
verbs;  as  on-drnuling,  foar,  on-dradan,  to  fear,  on-c?z- 
man,  to  come,  to  enter;  and  this  prefix,  like  ge,  he,  y, 
in  most  cases,  did  not  alter  the  signification  of  the  word 
to  which  it  was  att.-iched.  We  might,  therefore,  say: 
*'Sumcr  is  ou-cumen  in,"  considering  on-cnnun  gram- 
matically as  no  more  than   a  simple   participle  ;    or, 


PARTICIPLES  ENDING  IN  EN,  ING,  ED,  T.  339 

"Samer  is  acoming,  he-cominr/,  ge-comen,  y-comen, 
i-comeny  "  In  fact,"  says  Bosworth,  "  if  a  word  can- 
not be  found  under  a,  it  may  be  sought  for  under  he^ 
for,  ge,  or  to;  or,  rather,  under  the  first  letter  that  re- 
mains, after  rejecting  these  prefixes."  We  now  say, 
to  ''stow  away  articles;"  but  the  Bible  says,  "And 
when  he  came  to  the  tower,  he  took  them  from  their 
hand,  and  bestowed  them  in  the  house." — 2  Kings 
V.  24. 

Besides,  in  many  cases,  we  have  dropped  the  initial 
Saxon  a  of  words:  as  oslidan,  to  slide;  aslidende, 
sliding;  astandan,  to  stand;  astandeude,  standing; — 
aslidende  and  astandende,  neither  expressing  nor  im- 
plying a  preposition,  sound  very  much  like  a-sliding, 
and  a  standing.  We  have  both  live  and  alive,  from  the 
Saxon  algbhan,  to  live,  participle  aleofod,  living,  in  the 
first  case  having  dropped,  in  the  second  having  retained, 
the  initial  a.  We  may  look  at  these  abbreviations, 
therefore,  partly  as  abbreviations  of  the  prepositions 
o??,  or  at,  or  of,  partly  perhaps  as  the  Anglo  Saxon 
prefix,  under  a  different  form. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

PAKTICIPLES  ENDING  IN  EN,  ING,  ED,  T. 

Mistakai  and  Mistaldng. 

Dr.  Carey,  in  his  "English  Prosody"  (note),  ranks 
mistaken  with  such  passive  participles  as  sworn,  drunlccn. 


340  PARTICIPLES  ENLING  IX 

/aUm,  grown  {(frotcen),  rotten,  suollen.  "Thus,  a  sworn 
broker  may  not  be  a  swearing  broker,  a  fallen  tree  is 
not  a  falling  tree,  a  ro/^«i  branch  is  not  a  rotting  branch." 
Mistaken  refers  to  an  act  accomplislied,  mistaking  to  a 
past  or  present  continuous  state. 

Mistake/i  is  the  passive  form  of  To  mistake,  yet  cus- 
tom has  authorized  its  use  with  an  active  signification. 
I  am  mistake?*,  is  used  to  signify  I  mistake,  misunder- 
stand. My  meaning  is  mistake7i,  misunderstood.  Thus 
the  same  form  is  used  both  actively  and  passivel3\ 

It  is  inconsistent  witli  the  English  idiom  to  use  the 
auxiliary  verb  and  the  participle  in  the  place  of  the 
principal  verb,  whenever  the  principal  verb  has  a  con- 
tinuous signification — that  is,  a  signification  having 
reference  both  to  past  and  present  time.  We  say,  "  I 
am  listening  to  you,"  for  this  expresses  only  a  present 
continuity ;  but  we  do  not  say  "  I  am  hating  you,"  for 
this  supposes  pas/  and  present  time— a  state  of  feeling 
— a  condition  of  the  mind  resting  upon  some  antecedent 
cause;  and  we  therefore  say  "I  hate,'^  a  term  which 
does  not  limit  the  signific'atit)n  to  a  present  operation. 
I  hate,  I  love,  I  mistake,  are  English ;  but  not  I  am 
haling,  I  avi  hving,  I  am  mistaking,  in  the  same  sense. 
AVhcn,  thereforo,  we  say  "I  am  mistakr^j,"  instead  of  "I 
mistake,"  we  avoid  the  un-English  expression  "  I  am 
mistak/7>_7."  Custom  has  autliorizcd  "  I  am  mistake?*" 
in  the  place  of  "  I  mistake  or  misunderstand,^^  and  cus- 
tom has  authorized  "his  meaning  is  mistak'?)  or  mis- 
ipul'rstood,"  and  there  the  matter  rests. 

It  is  in  vain,  in  cases  of  this  kind,  "to  kick  against 
the  pricks."  We  say  "  he  has  the  wish,  but  the  means 
are  wauiing,"  when  the  means  are  wantrt/. 


EN,  ING,  ED,  T.  341 

Instead  of  oiving,  we  ought,  in  many  cases,  to  use  the 
passive  participle  owen,  instead  of  the  active  form  owing. 
It  was  oiven  to  my  exertions,  not  owing.  The  debt  was 
'owen  to  him,  not  owing.  It  is  ray  own;  that  is,  my 
owen ;  i.  e.  it  is  owen  to  me.  Liberalism  itself  will  not, 
however,  allow,  "  I  am  beholdm^  to  him,"  instead  of 
"I  am  beholde?i." 

There  is  a  phrase,  at  present,  fluctuating  between  an 
active  and  a  passive  form.  As,  the  house  is  building^ 
that  is,  in  the  act  of  being  built,  and  the  house  is  leing 
huilt^  the  import  aimed  at  being  the  same  in  both.  In 
German,  the  passive  form  is  used  in  speaking  of  things 
done  by  the  assislance  of  man  ;  as  Das  Schiff  wird 
gebaitt,  the  ship  is  building,  becomes  built,  is  becoming 
built — the  active  form,  in  expressing  the  operation  of 
inanimate  objects  ;  as,  Das  Fetter  brennt,  the  fire  is  burn- 
ing. Is  the  object  of  this  distinction  gained  by  the  En- 
glish phrase,  "The  ship  is  being  built  T^  The  phrase 
"  is  being  built,''^  and  others  of  a  similar  kind,  have  been, 
for  a  few  years  back,  gradually  insinuating  themselves 
into  our  language ;  still  they  are  not  English.  If  we 
use  the  phrase,  "  The  house  is  building,''^  we  speak  of  it 
as  a  thing  from  its  very  nature  not  acting  itself,  and  we 
use  the  term  building  as  expressive  of  a  passive  pro- 
gressive condition  of  the  house.  If  we  say  "  The  men 
are  building,''^  we  then  have  active  instruments,  and  the 
term  building  is  an  active  participle,  requiring  to  be 
followed  by  a  noun :  as  building  a  icall,  a  castle.  No 
mistake  can,  therefore,  arise  from  the  use  of  such  phrases 
as  The  house  is  building,  Preparations  are  making. 
We  use  the  participle  in  ed  both  actively  and  passively; 

29" 


342  PAUTICIP.-ES  ENT'IN'G  IN 

as,  I  have  loved,  I  mn  loved.  The  French  do  the  same, 
as  J'at  aime,  I  have  loved:  Je  sw's  aime,  1  am  loved.  If 
the  passive  form  cd  can  thus  be  \ised  both  actively  and 
passively,  the  active  form,  on  the  same  grounds,  may  be 
used  passively  and  actively.  Certain  it  is,  that  ])hrases 
similar  to  The  house  is  building,  Preparations  are  v)ak- 
ing,  are  scattered  profusely  over  our  literature;  whilst 
The  house  is  being  built,  Preparations  are  being  made, 
are  phrases  not  only  foreign  to  our  language,  but,  under 
certain  modiflcations,  difficult  to  deal  with.  Let  us  take 
such  a  phrase  as  the  following:  "  77e  will  find,  on  his 
arrival,  that  the  house  will  be  being  btiilt.'"  Or,  "When 
he  arrived,  hefound,on  inquiry,  that,  when  the  accident 
hai)j)cned,  the  house  had  been  being  built'''  Are  we  to 
say,  "/  hiew  the  house  to  be  being  built,^''  instead  of  "  f 
kneic  the  house  to  be  btiihling?'^  Arc  wo  ])rcpared  to 
carry  the  principle  thus  far,  for  the  sake  of  an  innova- 
tion, to  say  the  least,  unnecessary  ?  Tk'sides,  built,  or 
builded,  implies  a  thing  eftected,  an  act  accompli.shed  ; 
whereas  being  implies  something  continuously  present, 
— a  continuous  condition.  Whore  a  verb  denotes  con- 
tinuotis  action,  being  may  properly  be  a])[)lied  to  it,  as 
con.scntaneous  with  the  action  of  the  verb :  as,  being 
/earc^/,expressiveof  a  continuous  condition  ;  but  a  house 
is  either  btiilt  or  not  built.  Being  built  includes  in- 
compatible terms,  progression  and  accmnplishment.  It 
combines pcr/ed  and  impierferi  action.  Jiecoming  built 
— the  house  is  btcoming  built,  /.  r.  appro.ximating  to 
accom[)li.shmont,  wotiM  come  nearer  to  the  intended 
meaning.  Dr.  IJeattie  .say.s,  "One  of  the  greatest  de- 
fects in  the  English  tongue,  with   rog.Tj'd  to  the  verb. 


EN,  IXG,  ED,  T.  343 

seems  to  be  the  want  of  an  imperfect  passive  participle ;" 
yet  he  does  not  scruple  to  say,  "  Acticytis  that  are  now 
performing^     "  Creusa,  who  was  missinj,^^  kc. 

Mr.  Pickburn  (page  78),  speaking  of  the  participle 
ending  in  ing,  observes,  "The  tenses  of  the  passive 
voice  compounded  with  the  participle  in  ing,  are  never 
used  but  in  the  third  person,  and  with  relation  to  inmii- 
mate  objects;  or,  at  least,  such  as  are  incapable  of  the 
actions  mentioned.  They  can,  therefore,  in  no  case 
occasion  obscurity :  for,  whenever  the  imperfect  parti- 
ciple is  joined,  by  an  auxiliary  verb,  to  a  nominative 
capable  of  the  action,  it  is  taken  actively;  but,  when 
joined  to  one  incapable  of  action,  it  becomes  passive^ 

In  no  way  can  we  express  the  difference  between  an 
act  accomplished  and  an  act  in  the  course  of  accomplish- 
ment, so  readily  or  effectively  as  by  considering  the 
participle  ending  in  ing^  under  the  conditions  already 
mentioned,  as  an  imperfect  passive  participle. 

To  the  same  purport  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Grant,  in 
his  "Grammar  of  the  English  Language,"  namely,  that 
"  the  imperfect  participle  is  to  be  substituted  when  pro- 
gression is  to  be  denoted ;  as,  the  letter  is  writing,  icas 
writing,  has  been  writing,  ivill  be  writing ;  the  house  is 
building,  was  building,  has  been  building,  will  be  building. 
Written,  or  built,  would,  on  the  contrary,  denote  perfec- 
tion or  completion." 

If  we  object  to  participles  in  ing,  as  having  an  im- 
perfect passive  signification,  on  what  principle  do  we 
justify  such  expressions  as,  "  the  verses  read  well,"  when 
an  external  agency  is  applied  to  the  verses,  and  they 
in  fact  are  read  ? 


r?|4  PARTICIPLES  ENDING  IN 

Clearly  in  such  a  case,  read  is  an  imperfect  passive 
verb;  that  is,  a  verb  denoting  pror/ression  or  imperfect 
accomplishment.  The  same  may  be  said  of  such  j^hrascs 
as,  the  ingredients  mix  well,  the  fields  j^lough  tcell,  the 
corn  threshes  tvell,  this  is  good  to  eat,  this  is  good  to 
drink,  a  house  to  let,  an  estate  to  sell.  The  agency  in 
these  cases  is  external,  and  the  object  does  not  act,  but 
is  acted  tipon. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  when  a  par- 
ticiple ending  in  ing  is  connected  by  an  auxiliary  verb 
to  its  subject,  and  that  subject  a  nominative  case,  sen- 
tient and  ca2->al>le  of  action,  the  participle  imtst  be  taken 
actively,  and  from  its  very  nature  cannot  be  taken  pas- 
sively in  the  same  form  ;  as,  he  was  reading,  luriting, 
painting.  These  phrases  cannot  be  understood  as^^as- 
sivc,  either  perfect  or  imperfect.  In  the  case  of  verbs 
implying  sensation,  we  do  not  use  the  auxiliary  and  the 
participle  to  express  our  meaning,  but  the  simple  verb; 
not,  /  am  fearing,  but,  I  fear.  The  reason  is  that 
these  verbs  express  a  continuous  aflection  of  the  mind 
ivithont  an  auxiliary.  That  verbs  expressing  a  continu- 
ous adection  of  the  mind  have  a  dilVerent  bearing  from 
ordinary  verbs  expressive  of  action,  may  be  exemplified 
in  phrases  like  the  following:  ^^  If  tjou  feared  me,  you 
would  avoid  me  f  which  means,  you  would  at  this  time 
avoid  me,  if  you  were  under  the  ivfluence  of  fear.  If 
you  feared,  does  not  then  relate  merely  to  time  pa-ft,  but 
to  time  present  also.  It  indicates  the  continuity  of  a 
certain  state  of  the  mind,  liut  a  verb  o?  decisive  action 
docs  not  convey  such  a  meaning  without  the  addition 
of  the  auxiliary  verb.     "If  he  .struck  him,"  refers  to  an 


EN,  ING,  ED,  T.  345 

action  which  did  or  did  not  take  place  at  a  certain  time; 
but  there  is  no  continnation  of  the  action,  as  in  the  case 
of  a  verb  expressive  of  sensation. 

Passing. 

"  Where  passing  fair 
Allured  them." 

MiLTOx,  Paradise  Lost. 

That  is,  where  something  passing  or  surpassing  that 
which  is  fair  allured  them. 

"  And  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year." 

Goldsmith. 

More  than  rich. 

HajH,  carried  away. 

Care  must  be  taken  not  to  confound  rapt,  carried 
away,  with  ivrapt,  enveloped,  the  former  being  derived 
from  rapio,  raptus,  home  away,  hurried  along,  the  other 
signifying  folded  up. 

"Not  rapt  above  the  pole."  Paradise  Lost, 
"  Rapt  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  fiery  steeds."  Ihid. 

"  Rapt  into  future  times  the  bard  begun."  Pope. 

"  High  rapt  ambition."  Savage. 

Wrapt,  enveloped. 

"  Co  less  than  woman  in  the  form  of  man. 
To  scale  our  walls,  to  ivrap  our  tow'rs  in  flames. 
To  lead  in  exile  the  fair  Phrygian  dames."  Foi'h. 

'•Not  wilh  more  rage  a  conflagration  rolls. 
^Yraps  the  vast  mountains,  and  involves  the  poles."  Ihid. 


3-i6  PARTICIPLES  ENDING  IN  EN,  ING,  ED,  T. 

It  may  be  observed  that  rapt  is  used  in  the  j'xirticipial 
form  only,  there  being  no  English  root  in  the  sense  of 
to  ra]),  derived  from  rapio. 

AVe  may  say  ^^liapt  by  the  God;"  but  \vc  cannot  say 
tliat  the  God  raid  him,  in  the  same  sense.  In  the  case 
of  icraj)^  we  have  the  root  to  wm}). 

Time  not  expressed  hij  the  Participle  ahstradhj. 

English  participles,  whether  ending  in  ing^  or  C(Z,  or 
en,  or  /,  do  not  express  time  alstractJy.  I  can  say, 
"I  was  reading,  I  am  reading,  I  will  be  reading ;  the 
book  \s  jmnted,  it  was  ^ir  in  ted,  it  will  be  printed^  The 
participles  reading  and  jyrinled,  whether  past,  present, 
or  future,  have  undergone  no  variation.  The  tense  of 
particii)les  is  thus  expressed  by  concomitant  auxiliaries. 


NATURE  OF  THE  ADVERB.  317 

SECTION  VIII. 

ADVERB. 

CHAPTER  I. 

ITS  NATURE. 

The  term  adverb  is  derived  from  the  two  Latin  words 
ady  to,  and  verhum,  word.  The  Greek  term  frtt/V-"?/**  has 
also  precisely  the  same  signification  as  adverhiura  in 
Latin,  and  adverb  in  English.  As  its  name  denotes,  it 
is  used  as  an  attributive  to  some  other  word,  either  in 
order  to  qualify  its  simple  intension,  or,  when  used  com- 
paratively or  superlatively,  its  relative  intension.  The 
word,  to  which  it  is  joined,  is  not  necessarily  a  verb,  in 
the  limited  acceptation  of  the  term  verb  ;  for  it  may  be 
joined  to  a  participle,  as  bitterly  hating;  to  an  adjective, 
as  exceedingly  fair ;  as  well  as  to  the  verb  :  as,  he  spoke 
fluently.  It  is  obvious  that  an  adverb,  being  an  attri- 
butive, and  springing  out  of  the  nature  or  condition  of 
some  object  or  action,  cannot  stand  alone.  Ilence  the 
word  adverb.  Besides  expressing  a  simple  and  an  ab- 
solute condition,  when  joined  to  another  word,  the  ad- 
verb expresses  also  a  relative  condition  ;  as,  A.  speaks 
fluently;  V>.  more  fluently ;  Q.  most  fluently.  Variation 
of  intensity  is  as  necessary  in  an  adverb  as  in  an  adjec- 
tive. We  speak  of  anything  done,  either  abstractly 
and  without  reference  to  the  manner  in  which  it  may 
be  done  elsewhere,  or  we  speak  comparatively,  and  with 
reference  to  the  mode  in  which  it  may  be  done  else- 


318  POSITION  OF  THE  ADVERB. 

where.  The  same  principle  applies  to  the  adverb,  when 
it  is  an  attributive  of  the  adjective  or  of  the  participle. 
In  these,  also,  there  must  be  gradations  of  condition 
and  of  action. 

The  position  of  an  adverb,  and  its  proper  use  in  a 
sentence,  are  often  objects  of  the  greatest  moment,  and 
this  position  and  use  I  shall  proceed  to  illustrate  by  a 
variety  of  examples,  proper  and  improper. 


C  II  A  i'  T  1-:  U    1  I . 

EXAMPLES  OF  ADVEUlJS. 

Position  of  tiik  Advkku. 

Not. 

The  negative  adverb  not  follo\vs,'and  in  modern  usage 
never  precedes,  the  principal  verb  to  which  it  refers. 
We  cannot  now  say  "I  not  oflend,"  as  in  Dryden,  or 
"  She  not  denies  it,"  as  in  Shakspeare. 

Onhj^  Merely. 

"  Reason  informed  us — only  of  the  necessity  of  the  thing, 
revelation  has  prescribed  the  ter^is.  Philosophy  conjectured — 
inerehj  its  existence,  the  gospel  has  announced  the  mode  of  ita 
consummation." — Kennel. 

The  adverbs  onlf/  and  merely  are  in  their  proper  places 
in  this  passage.  In  the  former  sentence,  the  antithesis 
is  not  between  the  terms  informed  and  prescribed,  but 
between  the  necessity  of  the  thing  and  the  terms  of  the 
thinfj.    In  the  latter,  the  antithesis  is  not  between  the 


POSITION  OF  THE  ADVERB.  3-19 

terms  conjectured  and  announced,  but  between  the 
existence  of  the  thing  and  the  mode  of  its  consumma- 
tion; and  this  is  properly  expressed.  At  least,  if  we 
place  oyily  in  any  other  position  than  that  in  which  we 
find  it,  the  passage  would  be  more  liable  to  ambiguity 
than  it  is  at  present.  If  properly  read,  a  slight  pause 
ought  to  take  place  after  informed,  by  which  the  mean- 
ing would  be  defined;  and  an  emphasis  laid  on  only. 
In  print,  the  pause  may  be  indicated  visibly  as  above. 
Merely  is  subject  to  the  same  remarks.  Both  sen- 
tences are  tricky,  and  ought  to  be  remodelled. 

"  But  on  inquiry,  we  find  that  the  words  were  not  only  uttered 
by  a  mortal  man  like  ourselves,  but  by  one  who  was  more  than 
most  others  constantly  exposed  to  death,  and  expecting  it." — 
Published  Sei'mon. 

From  the  position  of  only  before  uttered,  we  expect  the 
sentence  to  run,  that  the  words  were  not  only  uttered 
by  a  mortal  man,  but  something  more  that  uttered ; 
whereas,  the  antithesis  is  between  a  mortal  man,  simply 
as  such,  and  a  man  constantly  exposed  to  death,  and 
expecting  it.  Place  not  only  after  uttered,  and  all  is 
clear.  These  words  were  uttered  not  only  by  a  mortal 
man,  like  ourselves,  but,  &c.  The  sentence  would, 
however,  be  still  more  distinct  by  the  arrangement, 
"These  words  were  uttered  by  a  man,  not  only  mortal 
like  ourselves,  but  by  one  who  was  more  than  most 
others  constantly  exposed  to  death,  and  expecting  it." 
If  we  take  the  following  sentence,  we  shall  find  that 
it  is  susceptible  of  three  different  meanings,  according 
to  the  situation  of  the  adverb  only:  "I  only  am  left  to 
tell  thcc,"  i.  c.  T,  and  no  one   besides;  "I  am  left  only 


350  POSITION  OF  TUE  ADVERB. 

to  tell  tliee,"  i.  e.  I  lun  left  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
tell  thee;  "I  am  left  to  tell  thee  o?j/^,"  i.  e.  and  to 
tell  no  other  pertion  than  thyself.  The  position  of  the 
adverb  onlfj,  which  so  materially  afl'ects  the  meaning  of 
a  sentence,  is  worthy  of  much  more  consideration  than 
it  usually  receives.  In  conversation,  mere  emphasis 
will  often  come  in  aid  of  the  meaning  intended;  but  in 
written  language  the  arrangement  of  a  sentence  ought 
to  be  such  as  not  to  be  susceptible  of  any  other  meaning 
than  that  which  it  is  intended  to  convey. 

Again,  in  the  following  sentence,  the  adverb  ouli/, 
from  its  position,  gives  a  turn  to  the  meaning  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  the  author  intended: — 

"  lie  luul  sufiiTcd  the  woodward  ojj/j/  to  use  his  discretion  in 
the  distant  woods.  Jn  tlie  groves  about  his  house,  he  allowed  no 
marking-hammer  but  his  own," — Gilpin's  Forad  Hccntry. 

The  sentence  means  that  he  had  suffered  the  woodward, 
and  no  other  person  than  the  woodward,  to  use  his  dis- 
cretion in  the  distant  woods;  whereas,  from  the  sentence 
that  follows,  it  is  evident  that  Mr.  Gilpin  meant  to  say, 
"he  had  sufl'ered  the  woodward  to  use  his  discretion  in 
the  distant  woods  onhj^'  The  sentence  arranged  as 
follows,  would  be  clear:  "  It  was  in  the  distant  woods 
onhj  that  he  suft'ered  the  woodward  to  use  his  discretion. 
In  the  groves  about  his  house,  he  allowed  no  marking- 
iron  but  his  own." 

'•  Her  busuui  to  liic  viuw  was  onlij  bare."  i>i:vi'Kx. 

"Her  bosom  only  to  the  view  was  bare." 

"The  province  of  (iaul  seems,  and  indeed  oiili/  seems,  un  ex- 
ception to  this  universal  toleration." — Gibbon,  Decl,  c.  ii. 


POSITION  OF  THE  ADVERB,  351 

Mr.  Gibbon  is  here  speaking  of  the  religious  toleration 
which  all  the  nations  under  the  dominion  of  Rome  en- 
joyed. He  then  adds,  "  The  province  of  Gaul  seems, 
and  indeed  only  seems,  an  exception  to  this  universal 
toleration."  As  the  passage  stands,  it  means  that  Gaul 
was  in  reality  no  exception  at  all;  but  that  it  only 
seemed  so — only  seems  an  exception  ;  whereas  Mr.  Gib- 
bon means  that  the  sanguinary  religious  rites  of  the 
Gauls,  under  the  Druids,  were  not  tolerated  by  the 
Romans,  and  that  the  restraint  imposed  upon  the  exer- 
cise of  those  rites  was  the  only  exception  to  the  tolera- 
tion which  the  whole  Roman  world  freely  enjoyed. 

"  The  first  (pestilence)  could  be  only  imputed  to  the  just  indig- 
nation  of  the  gods." — Gibbon. 

According  to  this  form  of  expression,  the  pestilence  of 
which  the  author  is  here  speaking  could  be  imputed, 
and  nolhing  more  than  imputed,  to  the  just  indignation 
of  the  gods;  whereas  he  means  to  say  that  the  pesti- 
lence could  not  be  attributed  to  the  wicked  administra- 
tion of  Commodus,  but  solely,  and  entirely,  to  the  just  in- 
dignation of  the  gods — 07ily  to  the  just  indignation  of  the 
gods. 

"  But,  by  learning,  the  Apostle  does  not  mean  empty  and  bar- 
ren spoculation,  but  learning  unto  salvation ;  not  merely  to  ren- 
der us  better  scholars,  but  better  men  ;  not  only  to  satisfy  us  iu 
useless  curiosity,  but  to  confirm  us  in  the  belief  of  Christianity." 
— Rennel,  Sermon  24. 

The  words  merely  and  only  are  both  mischievous.  It 
was  no  part  of  the  object  of  Scripture  to  make  us  better 
scholars,  and  most  certainly  no  part  of  it  to  satisfy  us 
in  useless  curiosity. 


352  PROMISCUOUS  ADVERBS. 


Examples. 

Double  Kegalive. 

Amongst  writers  of  a  certain  date,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  find  a  double  negative,  wLicb  iu  the  present  ago 
would  not  be  admissible ;  as, 

"  I  never  was  nor  never  viW\  be  false."       Shaksi".  Rich.  II. 

"  Nor  did  not  with  unbashfiil  forehead  woo 
The  means  of  weakness  anil  debility."  Siiakspeark. 

"  lie  never  yet  no  vilanie  no  sayde."  Cii  \rrEn. 

"She  monnts  her  chariot  in  a  Ihrice, 
Nor  would  she  stay  for  7/0  advice, 
Until  her  maids,  who  were  so  nice. 

To  wait  on  her  were  fitted."    Drayton's  Ni/mphidia. 

Such  expressions  as  these  ought,  perhaps,  to  bo  esti- 
mated by  the  age  in  which  they  were  used ;  but  they 
cannot  be  used  with  propriety  now. 

"  It  is  all  alonp:  bounded  by  lofty  mountain-ranp-es  on  both 
sides,  never  narrows  into  a  defile,  nor  never  expands  into  a  plain." 
— Inijlis,  Tyrol. 

The  same  excuse  cannot  be  made  for  the  nor  never  of 
Mr.  Inglis,  which  is  applicable  to  authors  of  a  much 
older  date. 

Excesst'veli/ ^  ExccedrngJ)/. 

"Excessively  drunk." — (Juldsmilh.   Not  "  rrcps-s/iT  drunk." 
"  Exccedinj^ly  foir."     Not  "  exceeding  fair." 
"Kpinliart.  who  was  scrrolary  lo  (/liarles  the  First,  became 
excccdinij  pojiular." — S^wclaior,  No.  181. 


PROMISCUOUS  ADVERBS,  853 

An  attempt  is  made  to  justify  the  expression  exceeding 
f((ir,  and  others  of  a  similar  kind,  by  supposing  exceed- 
ing, in  such  a  case,  to  be  a  participle — as  exceeding 
that  which  is  fair.  It  savors,  however,  very  strongly 
of  error,  and  may  be  ranked  with  such  expressions  as 
the  following: — 

"  The  sellers  of  the  newest  patterns  at  present  give  extreme 
good  bargains." — Gokhmith,  Citizen. 

'•  In  a  word,  his  speech  was  all  excellent  good  in  itself." — Fuller's 
Andronicus. 

Exceedingly  is  usually  applied  in  a  good  sense — 
excessively  in  a  bad  sense;  as,  exceedingly  beautiful, 
excessively  ugly. 

Peculiarly^  Particularly. 

Peculiar  and  peculiarly,  particular  and  particularly, 
have  distinct  significations,  and  cannot,  without  impro- 
priety, be  confounded  ;  as  was  briefly  noticed  under  the 
head  Adjective.  Peculiar  may  be  said  to  mark  a  pro- 
perty alsolutely,  p)<^iTticular  the  degree  of  a  property 
common  to  more  objects  than  that  to  which  it  is  applied. 
For,  as  Harris  justly  observes, 

"Every  thing  in  a  manner,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  is  in 
its  constitution  compounded  of  something  common,  and  some- 
thing pecM?mr  ;  of  something  common,  and  belonging  to  many 
other  things,  and  of  something  peculiar,  by  which  it  is  distin- 
guished, and  made  to  be  its  true  and  proper  self.  Hence,  lan- 
guage, if  compared  according  to  this  notion  to  the  murmurs  of  a 
fountain,  or  the  dashings  of  a  cataract,  has  in  common  this,  that 
like  them  it  is  sound.  But  then,  on  the  contrary,  it  has  in  pecu- 
liar this,  that  whereas  those  sounds  have  no  meaning,  or  signifi- 
cation, to  language  a  meaning  or  signification  is  essential." — 
Hermes,  c.  i.  b.  3. 

30* 


354  PROMISCUOUS  ADVERBS. 

"  This  happy  rcpriou  seemed  pcculiarlt/  sequestered  by  nature 
for  h'i  abode." — Guldsmilh. 

Peculiarly,  not  jja/V^cu/ar?//.  C:\slimere  possessed  ad- 
vantages in  this  respect,  of  a  kind  peculiar  (proj^ria)  to 
itself — advantages  such  as  no  other  country  possessed. 

"  But  the  far  prcatcr  part  retained  those  arms  to  which  the 
nature  of  their  country,  or  their  early  habits  of  life,  more  pccii- 
liarly  adapted  them." — Gibbon,  JJtcl.  c.  i. 

Here  Mr.  Gibbon  presumes  that  the  difference  of  coun- 
try and  of  the  habits  of  early  life  had  produced,  in  some 
of  the  auxiliaries  of  the  llomans,  an  aptitude  for  the 
use  of  certain  arms,  which  aptitude  did  not  exist  ii\ 
any  other  part  of  these  auxiliaries.  This  aptitude,  or 
degree  of  aptitude,  belonged  to  them  distinctly,  and  not 
in  common  with  tiic  rest,  and  was  therefore  peculiar  to 
them. 

Farther,  Further,  Farther. 

Farther,  further,  and  forthcr.  All  these  forms  have 
been  used  in  the  same  sense,  though /j/r/Ae?*  is  the  word 
n<^w  generally  in  use.  From  far  would  regularly  be 
derived  farrcr  and  /arrest,  not  farther  and  farthest, 
unless  we  suppose  the  th  to  be  used  for  the  sake  of  eu- 
phony. Further  and  furthest  arc  justified  by  cxLstom 
only,  and  not  by  analogy.  It  is  a  corrujjtion  of 
forth,  fortltcr,  forthcst,  to  go  forth,  forthcr,  farthest. 
In  this  sense  it  is  used  by  Chaucer  in  his  "Canterbury 
Talcs:"— 

"  l>nt  nalhh>Hs,  while  I  have  time  and  spiico, 
Or  that  {further  in  this  tale  jjuce." 

lint  Chaucer  docs  not  write /ar,  hnifcr: — 

"  Wide  WttB  hi?  parish,  and  his  houses /cr  aKonder." 


TROMISCUOUS  ADVERBS.  355 

And  from  this  he  deduces /erras^- — 

"  In  sikencssc  and  in  mischiefe  to  visite 
The/eiTcst  in  his  parish." 

II cy wood,  also,  in  his  "Epigrams,"  as  quoted  by  Lower, 
writes /e/-; — 

"A  foolc's  bolt  is  soon  shot,  and  fleeth  oftimcs/er; 
But  a  foolc's  bolt  and  the  mark  cum  few  times  nor." 

But  the  Scotch  poet,  William  Dunbar,  who  was  born 
about  l-i65,in  his  poem  of  "The  Thistle  and  the  Rose," 
writes, 

"  In  field  gofurtU,  and  fend  the  laif." 

And  Johnson,  in  his  "History  of  Early  English  Poetry," 
observes  that  "the  Scotch  of  both  Douglas  and  Dunbar 
was  not  materially  different  from  the  language  of  the 
best  cotemporary  English  writers." 

Sir  David  Lindsay,  a  Scotch  poet  of  a  period  some- 
what later,  being  born  in  1490,  in  his  tale  of  "Squire 
Meldrun,"  writes/w?"^/i.- — 

"  She  slippit  in  or  cvir  he  wist, 
And  fcj-nitlie  past  till  ane  kist. 
And  with  her  keys  oppcnit  the  lokkis, 
And  made  her  to  takcfurlh  ane  boxc." 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  from  these  authorities, 
that  the  word  written /er  by  Chaucer  and  Ileywood  was 
used  in  the  sense  of  the  modern  tcrm/ar,  and  that  from 
fer  was  derived  the  superlative  ferrest,  and  that  the 
comparative  would,  if  regularly  formed,  heferrer;  fer 
ferrer^ferrest:  but  the  word  further^  used  by  Chaucer, 
is  a  different  word,  and  derived  ^rom  forth,  a  term  still 
holding  its  place  in  the  English  language,  though,  so  far 


3.56  PROMISCUOUS  ADVERRS. 

back  as  Dunbar  and  Lindsay,  written  furlh.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  the  word  which  now  fluctuates  between 
further  and  further  ouglit  to  be  written /or//<o'.  Cus- 
tom will  have  \t further.  Far  is  a  corruption  of /er, 
leading  to  other  corruptions, /(^WZ/er,  and  farthest,  in 
the  place  o^  fer,ferrer,ferrest,  now  obsolete.  To  go 
forth  iini>lies  no  particular  distance;  to  go  far  is  so  far 
definite  that  it  excludes  nearness. 

Never,  Ever. 

"  It  produces  that  slow  Alexautlrian  air,  which  is  finely  suited 
to  a  close,  and  for  this  reason  such  lines  almost  nwcr  occur  to- 
pether,  but  arc  used  in  finishing  the  couplet." — Blair's  lihetoric. 

Better,  "  vcri/  seldom  occur," 

"  The  Lord  is  kincr.  lie  tlie  people  never  so  impatient." — Psalm 
jcci.x.  1. 

"  For.  though  a  man  be  never  so  perfect  among  the  children  of 
men." —  Wisilom  ix.  C. 

*'  If  I  wash  myself  with  snow-water,  and  make  myself  never  so 
clean."— Jo6  i.\.  UO. 

"  Charm  he  never  so  wi.scly." — Psalm  Iviii.  .">. 

"  His  face  was  easily  taken,  both  in  ]>ainting  and  scul|iturp, 
and  scarce  any  one,  though  inrer  so  indillcrently  skillcil  in  llu  ir 
(his)  art,  failed  to  hit  it." — Wtllwood's  Mi-nwirs. 

"  Ilosides,  a  slave  wouM  not  have  been  admitted  intn  that 
society  ha<l  he  had  ncvir  such  opportunities." — Ikntlcy,  Disserta- 
tion on   J'halaria. 

"  Let  the  offence  be  of  nerer  so  high  a  nature." — Spectator,  l.'^l . 

liut  llarri.'^,  w1k).«c  authority  ]n  W(irtli  a  thousand  au- 
thorities such  as  those  above  mentioned,  writes, — 

"He  the  language  njion  the  whole  ever  so  perfect." — Ihrmes, 
p.  122. 


PROMISCUOUS  ADVERBS.  357 

Dr.  Carey,  in  bis  "  Treatise  on  English  Prosody," 
page  64,  note,  has  the  following  observations  on  the 
subjoined  couplet: — 

"  Though  ne'er  so  rich,  we  scorn  the  elf 
Whose  only  praise  is  sordid  pelf." 

^'' Never  so  rich.''^ — "Some  modern  grammarians,"  says 
he,  "  condemn  phrases  of  this  kind  as  improper,  and 
recommend  ever  so.  I  would  very  cheerfully  subscribe 
to  their  opinion,  if  I  only  could  understand  the  latter 
phrase,  so  as  to  extract  from  it  a  satisfactory  meaning ; 
but  that  I  own  is  a  task  which  exceeds  my  abilities. 
For  example,  'It  is  a  fine  day — will  you  take  a  walk?' 
*  No ;  if  it  were  ever  so  fine  a  day  I  would  not  go  out.' 
To  discover  the  meaning  of  this  reply,  I  first  consider 
that  et'er  signifies  always.''^ 

After  begging  the  question,  and  assuming  that  ever 
signifies  always,  he  proceeds  to  argue  the  case,  and 
paraphrases  the  expression  thus :  "  If  this  day  were  fine 
to  such  degree  that  never  so  fine  a  day  has  smiled  from 
the  heavens,  I  would  not  go  out."  But  ever,  in  such 
a  situation,  has  nothing  to  do  with  time.  It  is  an  ad- 
verb of  degree,  and  not  of  time,  and  is  constantly  used 
as  such  under  analogous  circumstances;  as,  "If  I  take 
ever  so  little  of  this  drug,  it  will  kill  me."  That  is,  liow- 
ever  little.  "  If  I  take  ever  so  much  of  this,  it  will  not 
hurt  me."  "  How  much  soever  I  may  take  of  it,  it  will 
not  hurt  me."  Let  any  one  translate  one  of  these 
phrases  into  another  language,  and  he  will  find  that 
ever  presents  itself  as  a  term  expressive  of  degree,  and 
not  o£  time  at  all.  "Charm  he  ever  so  wisely:" — 
Quamvis  incantandi  sit  2^^ritus,  aut  peritissimus.     In 


35S  ADVERBS  IN  LY. 

the  second  quotation  (from  Wisdom  ix.  G),  the  Greek 
has  Tt'Xftoj,  the  Latin  per/ectus,  and  the  French  con- 
somme. In  the  fourth  quotation  (Psalm  Iviii.  5),  the 
Latin  has  "vocatis  incantationibus  2^<-'ritissimiy  The 
doctor's  fallacy  lies  in  the  assumption  that  ever  must 
signify  always^  and  nothing  else.  In  such  cases,  then, 
ever  and  not  never^  is  required.  The  doctor's  explana- 
tion is  circuitous  and  unnecessary. 

"  Seldom  if  ever,"  not  "  seldom  or  never,"  "  seldom 
or  ever." 


Adverbs  in  \y^  formed  from  Adjectives  in  ly. 

Though  an  adjective  may  end  in  hj^  the  usual  termi- 
nation of  the  English  adverb,  yet  this  ought  not  to  deter 
us  from  adding  bj  to  the  end  of  an  adverb  formed  from 
such  adjective,  and  changing  the  first  ///  into  //;  and 
this  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the  adjective,  out  of 
which  it  is  formed.  In  the  Old  Testament,  we  find  wilily 
from  ivily^  and  in  the  New  holily  from  holy.  The  com- 
bination of  the  syllables  //,  (y,  it  is  true,  on  some  occa- 
sions may  have  a  disagreeable  efl'oct;  but,  where  the 
exact  similitude  of  the  adjective  is  preserved  in  the  ad- 
verb there  is  also  something  ofl'ensive,  as  a  n)attcr  of 
sense.  It  is  a  question,  therefore,  between  sense  and 
sound,  as  in  the  second  collect  for  Good  Friday,  "  May 
truly  and  godly  .serve  thee."  Whenever  a  decidedly  in- 
liarmonious  effect  is  produced  by  such  a  word  asyodlily, 
masterlify^  the  phra.se  ought  to  bo  recast.  It  was  mas- 
terly done,  is  bad;  It  was  mastcrlily  done,  no  better: 
but  we  can  say.  It  was  done  in  a  masterly  way  or  manner. 


NATURE  OF  THE  PRKPOSITION.  359 

Ko,  Not. 

"If  that  be  all,  there's  no  need  of  paying  for  that,  since  I  am 
resolved  to  have  that  pleasure,  whether  I  am  there  or  no." — Gold- 
smith, Citizen,  105. 

"  Whether  love  be  natural  or  no,  replied  my  friend  gravely,  it 
contributes  to  the  happiness  of  every  society  into  -which  it  is  in- 
troduced."— Ihid. 

If  we  supply  what  is  wanting,  we  shall  see  that  ex- 
pressions of  this  description  require  not  in  the  place  of 
no.  Whether  I  am  there,  or  not  there.  Whether  love 
be  natural,  or  not  natural. 


SECTION  IX. 

PREPOSITION. 

CHAPTER   I. 

ITS  NATURE. 


The  English  preposition  is  simple,  and  easy  of  appli- 
cation. In  the  Greek  language,  some  prepositions  are 
followed  by  one  case  only,  some  by  two,  some  by  three, 
according  to  circumstances.  The  use  of  the  Greek 
prepositions  often,  therefore,  rests  upon  shades  of  dis- 
tinction not  very  strongly  marked.  In  English,  the 
preposition  is  ahcays  followed  by  the  objective  case : 
and,  as  the  objective  case  of  the  noun  never  varies  from 
the  nominative,  the  chance  of  error  is  reduced  within 
a  very  small  compass.     The  old  Anglo-Saxon  genitive 


3G0  ADOPTION  OF  LATIN,  GREEK, 

case,  resolved  into  of  before  the  noun,  ceases  to  be  a 
case  ;  as,  lliomasis  book,  or  the  book  of  Thomas.  The 
term  Thomas  undergoes  no  change,  whether  we  say 
this  is  l^homas,  this  is  the  book  of  7'lionias^  or  give  it 
to  Thomas. 

But  tliouL'h  the  absence  of  variation  in  the  Ens;lish 
noun  reduces  the  chances  of  error  in  connecting  it  with 
the  preposition,  still  there  may  be  misap})lication3  of 
the  prepositions  themselves,cither  when  standing  alone, 
or  in  composition.  The  variation  of  the  i)ronoun,  ac- 
cording to  its  use  in  the  nominative,  possessive,  or  ob- 
jective case,  is  frequently  the  source  of  error,  though 
that  kind  of  error  which  a  very  slender  stock  of  gram- 
matical knowledge,  with  ordinary  attention  at  least, 
ought  to  avoid.  Such  expressions  as,  "  Take  it  from 
s/mj,  and  give  it  to  /,"  are  by  no  means  uncommon 
southern*  provincialisms,  and  these  not  always  conljued 
to  the  farmyard  or  the  stable.  Under  the  head  of 
Pkonol'N,  some  examples  of  this  kind  mny  be  found, 
in  a  former  part  of  this  work. 


CITAPTKR  IT. 

ADOPTION  OF  LATIN,GI{EKK,  AND  FHENCII  I'UKPOSITIONS. 

1*iu:positions  taken  from  the  Latin  and  Greek  enter 
largely  into  the  present  constitution  of  the  English 
language.     In  the  present  state  of  our  literature  and 


AND  FRENCH  PEEPOSITIONS.  361 

science,  they  cannot  be  dispensed  with.  They  have 
become  necessaries  of  life.  About  iiuenty  Latin  prepo- 
sitions, capable  of  standing  alone,  coalesce  readily  with 
words  that  now  form  an  undisputed  part  of  the  English 
language.  Five  more,  which  may  be  regarded  as  in- 
separable prepositions,  that  is,  not  found  alone  but  in 
composition  only,  have  also  become  childrenof  adoption. 
To  these  may  be  added  fourteen  prepositions  from  the 
Greek,  easily  combining  with  different  parts  of  speech. 
These,  with  our  own  indigenous  prepositions,  are  amply 
sufficient  to  supply  all  our  wants;  and  if,  in  this  respect, 
and  as  far  as  the  use  of  prepositions  is  concerned,  we 
do  not  express  our  meaning  with  sufficient  perspicuity, 
it  is  not  from  the  want  of  terms,  but  from  our  own 
ignorance  or  negligence  in  their  application.  In  some 
cases,  we  have  recourse  both  to  Latin  and  Greek  prepo- 
sitions in  composition,  and  adopt  two  words,  both  signi- 
fying the  same  thing,  as,  iieriphery  and  circumference. 
Sometimes  we  combine  an  English  preposition  with  a 
Latin  term,  as,  overplus;  sometimes  a  French  prepo- 
sition with  an  English  term,  as,  surcharge,  that  is,  over- 
charge; surpass,  to  pass  over  or  beyond.  We  even 
adopt  a  Latin  preposition,  and  form  a  noun  from  it,  as, 
"He  is  an  Ultra;  yet  custom  will  not  allow  us  to  say 
"He  is  a  Beyond;''^  so  entirely  is  language  in  the  power 
of  this  earthly  deity.  Prepositions  of  foreign  origin 
cannot,  of  course,  be  duly  appreciated,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  languages  from  which  they  are  derived. 
They  perpetually  minister  to  the  use,  the  precision,  or 
the  elegance  of  the  language,  and,  as  such,  are  worthy 
of  minute  attention.  • 
31 


362  PLACE  OF  THE  PREPOSITION. 


CnAPTER    III. 

PLACE  OF  THE  PREPOSITION". 

The  very  term  preposilion  indicates  tliat  it  is  con- 
nected with  something  thut  follows;  otherwise,  it  could 
not  be  a  prefix,  or  preposition.  Yet  the  preposition 
sometimes  ostensibly  becomes  an  adverb,  and  in  such 
cases  it  has  no  object  expressed,  as,  above,  htnenth — the 
heavens  above,  the  earth  beneath.  It  would  appear, 
however,  that  a  noun  is  here  tacitly  implicil.  The 
heaven  above  is  the  heaven  above  something.  The  earth 
beneath  is  the  earth  beneath  something;  though  that 
something  may  not  be  expressed. 

Again,  prepositions  sometimes  serve  the  place  of 
adjectives,  as,  an  fz/ifer-thought,  an  W7u^er-current,  "thine 
q/'toi-infirmities." 

But,  though  the  term  j^rej^osi I  ion  indicates  something 
placed  before,  it  is  not  so  on  all  occasions.  Formally 
the  preposition  may  be  far  separated  from  its  dependent 
noun,  or  jjronoun,  though  in  grammatical  conslructitm 
it  necessarily  precedes  it.  By  an  iiliom,  peculiar,  per- 
haps, to  the  English  language,  the  prepositions  of,  to^ 
in,  for,  &c.,  arc  sometimes  placed  at  the  end  of  a  sen- 
tence, and  quite  apart  from  the  noun  that  depends  upon 
them.  As,  "'J'hese  arc  matters  which  he  is  entirely 
ip^norant  r>/";"'  or,  "What  he  is  an  entire  stranger  /«;" 
"Which  he  is  engaged  ///;"  "'J'iic  sum  whicli  he  sohl  it 
for:''  i.  c.  of  ic/iich,  to  ithich,  in  vhirli^Jur  uhich. 

The  particle  of,  whether  looked  upon  as  u  preposition, 


PLACE  OF  THE  PREPOSITION.  363 

or  the  sign  of  the  genitive  case,  admits  the  same  con- 
struction. 

"  These  more  sterling  qualities  of  strict  moral  conduct,  regular 
religious  habits,  temperate  and  prudent  behavior,  sober  indus- 
trious life— qualities  which  arc  generally  required  of  public  men, 
even  if  more  superficial  accomplishments  should  be  dispensed 
with — he  had  absolutely  nothing  o/"." — Lord  Brougham's  States- 
me7i,  Life  of  Wtlkes. 

Here  the  particle  of  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  sentence; 
in  the  following  sentence,  at  the  beginning : — 

"  Of  the  lighter  but  very  important  accomplishments,  which 
fill  so  prominent  a  place  in  the  patriotic  character,  great  elo- 
quence and  a  strong  and  masculine  style  in  writing,  he  had  but 
little."— /^/c7. 

The  first  and'  last  words  of  each  of  these  sentences  are 
grammatically  connected;  as,  "he  had  absolutely  no- 
thing of  those  more  sterling  qualities;"  and  "he  had 
but  little  of  the  lighter,"  &c. 

The  particle  of,  in  such  a  position  as  we  find  it,  at  the 
end  of  the  former  sentence,  and  also  the  wide  interval 
between  of  in  the  beginning  of  the  latter  sentence,  and 
the  term  little,  with  which  it  is  grammatically  connected, 
are  quite  consistent  with  the  idiom  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

The  following  sentence  from  Bentley,  exhibiting  the 
same  position  of  the  preposition,  is  grammatically 
faulty : — 

"  And  so  begin  his  examination  in  such  articles  as  he  could 
raise  the  greatest  bustle  in." 

The  relative  being  here  supplied  by  the  particle  as,  the 
preposition  m  has  nothing  to  which  it  can  adhere.  Tlie 
sentence  might  have  run:  "And  so  begin  his  examina- 


364  PLACE  OF  THE  PREPOSITION. 

tion  in  those  articles  in  which  lie  could  raise  the  great- 
est bustle;"  or,  "which  he  could  make  the  greatest 
bustle  in."  To  say,  "And  so  begin  his  examination  in 
those  articles  in  as  he  could  make  the  greatest  bustle" 
is  nonsense.  Yet  this  is  the  grammatical  resolution  of 
the  passage.     So  again : — 

"  This  surely  was  too  slender  a  thread  to  trust  a  Imsiness  of 
that  weight  to.'' 

This  sentence  requires  to  be  reconstructed:  "This 
surely  was  too  slender  a  thread  to  be  trusted  in  a  busi- 
ness of  that  weight." 

The  following  phrase  is  colloquial,  but  nothing 
more : — 

"  The  only  animal  we  saw  for  some  time  was  an  opossum, 
which  the  native  discovered  in  a  tree,  and  climbed  up/o)-." — 
Land  or' s  BusJimau. 

The  relative  icJiich  here  depends  upon  two  difTerent 
parts  of  speech,  discovered  and/or,  a  verb  and  a  prepo- 
sition. Though  the  sentence  is  not  grammatically 
faulty,  yet  in  its  construction  it  certainly  presents  no- 
thing worthy  of  imitation. 

There  may,  however,  be  cases  in  which  the  disjunc- 
tion of  the  preposition  and  its  dependent  noun  is  not 
only  the  cause  of  an  inharmonious  cadence,  but  where, 
as  a  grammatical  principle,  it  is  inadmissible;  as, 

"lie  betrothes  himself  oftener  to  the  devil  in  one  day.  than 
Mecajnas  did  in  a  week  to  his  wife,  that  ho  was  married  a  tliou- 
Hand  times  to." — liitthr'.i  Hi  mains. 

Ilere  wo  sec  the  preposition  (o  placed  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence  ;  yet  wo  cannot  convert  the  phrase,  "  his  wifc) 
l/iat  ho  was  marriod  .a  thrms.Tii<1   times  /o,"  into  "  his 


DOUBLE  PREPOSITIONS.  365 

wife  to  that  he  was  married  a  thousand  times."  Yet 
this  is  the  real  test  of  its  propriety.  In  a  case  like  this, 
that  must  give  way  to  ichich  or  idiom. 

"When  tJiat  is  demonstrative,  it  will  admit  a  prepo- 
sition before  it;   as,  "Give  it  to  that  man;"  "Take  it 
from  that  man."     But  when  that  is  a  relative,  we  cannot 
say,  "This  is  the  man  to  that  the  book  belongs;"  or, 
"This  is  the  man/;-om  that  he  took  the  book." 


CHAPTEK    lY. 

DOUBLE  PEEPOSITIOXS. 

The  following  passage  affords  the  unusual  application 
of  two  prepositions,  one  lefore  and  the  other  after  the 
noun  to  which  they  have  reference: — 

"  "With  noise  like  the  sound  of  the  distant  thunder, 
Eoaring  they  rushed/rom  the  black  gvM  under." 

Translation  from  Schiller. 

That  \s,from  under  the  black  gulf.  There  is  nothing 
here  that  ofi'ends  against  the  idiom  of  the  English  lan- 
guage; but  ambiguity  lurks  in  the  phrase,  "from  the 
black  gulf  under."  ^'■Froni  under  the  black  gulf"  con- 
veys a  meaning  different  from  that  which  is  conveyed 
by  ^from  the  black  gulf  tliat  is  under,"  supposing  the 
phrase  to  be  elliptical. 

When  two  prepositions  come  before  the  noun  to  which 
they  refer,  the  meaning  may  be  quite  clear  and  quite 
consistent  with  the  structure  of  our  language ;  as, 
^'■From  about  the  age  of  twenty  years."  In  this  case, 
the  terms  "about  the  age  of  twenty  years,"  though 

31* 


3GG  COMPOUND  PREPOSITIONS. 

verbally  distinct,  form  a  concrete  noun  grammatically 
and  logically  in  the  objective  case,  and  depending  upon 
the  former  preposition  from.  We  cannot,  however, 
place  the  latter  preposition  ohoui  at  the  end  of  the  sen- 
tence. 

In  such  a  phrase  as  "oyer  against  the  church,"  the 
prepositions  have  reference  to  two  distinct  nouns;  as, 
"orer  the  way,  against  or  opi>osite  to  the  church." 


CHAPTER   Y. 

COMPOUND  AND  SIMPLE  PREPOSITIONS. 

/71,  To,  Into. 

In  implies  a  5<fl/e  of  being;  into  an  act.  We  pour 
water  into  the  pail;  when  there,  it  is  in  the  pail.  This 
distinction  in  Greek  and  Latin  requires  a  diflerent  case. 

Ilorace  has  been  censured  by  some  critics  for  writing 
**ignc,"  when  he  meant  a<  the  fire;  but  as  no  motion 
towards  or  to  the  fire  was  meant,  the  expression  is  cor- 
rect; and,  if  he  had  said  "in  ignc77z,"  it  would  have 
been  equivalent  in  Engli.sh  to  "they  roasted  thrushes 
to  the  fire." 

As  the  preposition  in  implies  resl^  and  i)ito,  motion 
to,  it  is  obvious  that,  when  two  verbs  have  a  diversity 
of  meaning,  one  implying  motion  and  the  other  the 
place  luliere,  they  cannot  properly  bo  followed  by  one 
and  the  .same  preposition.     Thus:  — 

"  After  killinp  his  wife  nml  cbildrou,  be  laid  them  npou  n  pile 
which  he  had  erected  for  that  purpose,  and  llius  seltiug  fire  to 


COMPOUND  PREPOSITIONS.  367 

the  whole,  rushed  and  expired  in  the  midst  of  the  flames." — Gold- 
smith's History  of  Greece. 

That  is,  "  rushed  into,  and  expired  m,  the  midst  of  the 
.flames."  The  preposition  in  is  not  applicable,  in  com- 
mon, to  both  these  verbs,  and  the  terms  are  inconsistent. 
The  preposition  m,  when  used  in  composition,  denotes 
negation ;  as,  indirect,  indecent,  inhuman,  &c.;  that  is, 
not  direct,  720^  decent,  not  human.  Words  of  this  kind 
are  derived  from  the  Latin  ;  yet  in  words  clearly  of 
Latin  origin  we  have  not  in  all  cases  been  satisfied  with 
a  correct  example.     Ovid  says, 

"Non  est  habitabilis  Kstu." 


We  also  say,  "  the  habitable  globe ;''  and  if  "  habitable 
globe"  signifies  a  globe  capable  of  being  inhabited,  why 
should  not  inhabitable,  on  the  same  principle,  signify 
incapable  of  habitation  ?  To  effect  this  signification,  we 
have  prefixed  to  it  un,  and  thus  get  uninhabitable. 
Yet  Sandys,  in  his  annotations  on  Ovid's  "  Metamor- 
phoses," writes,  "  The  frigid  zone,  held  inhabitable  for 
extremitie  of  cold:"  inhabitable  then  having  the  same 
signification  as  uninhabitable  has  now. 

In  the  case  of  immortal,  we  have  mortal  and  immortal 
opposed  to  each  other;  an  un  prefixed  to  mwjor/aZ  would 
reduce  the  meaning  of  the  term  to  mortal;  uniramortal, 
that  is  mortal.    Milton  has  it  so : — 

"  Unimmortal  made 
All  kinds."  Paradise  Lost,  b.  x. 

The  addition  of  wn  to  an  epithet  already  compounded, 
in  the  following  passage  from  Milton,  is  a  magnificent 
conception : — 


368  COMPOUND  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  All  too  little  seems 
To  stuff  his  maw — this  vast  tt7ihiih'bounJ  corpse." 

The  epithet  tmhiJehound,  applied  to  the  sia-born  mon- 
ster Death,  is  singularly  happ}', — a  monster  not  confined 
within  superficies,  and  therefore  by  nature  insatiable. 

Up,  On,  Upon. 

On  and  npon  ought  at  least  to  have  difTerent  signifi- 
cations, on  the  same  principle  as  the  signification  of  in 
differs  from  that  of  into.  The  promiscuous  use  of  oil 
and  tqwn  is,  however,  sufficiently  prevalent,  if  not  to 
constitute  a  rule,  at  least  to  establish  a  legalized  confu- 
sion. Yet  do  not  such  phrases  as  the  following  involve 
a  difference  in  the  meaning  of  these  prepositions?  "The 
bird  flew  upon  {vp  oil)  the  house,  and  when  there  sat 
on  the  roof."  In  the  first  case,  motion  to  is  im})lied  ; 
in  the  second,  simply  a  state  of  rest.  Again,  vp  on 
(upon)  would  properly  signify  elevation  and  a  state  of 
rest.  Tiie  Greek  preposition  aio  seems  to  have  the 
same  import  as  our  preposition  iq^;  and  ivhu.  a\a  axaHr<t> 
(Pindar),  that  is,  am  ((»-)  axantt^  corresponds  with  our 
phrase,  "sleeps  iij)  on  {upon)  the  sceptre."  Ujton, 
however,  in  its  present  use  does  not  always  imply  7710- 
tion  vj)  or  even  elevation;  for  we  say,  "lie  threw  him- 
self npon  the  ground;"  "Send  down  xqion  our  bishops 
and  curates;"  "Pour  upon  them  the  continual  dew  of 
thy  blessing." 

Custom  ha.s,  in  fact,  irretrievably  confounded  the  use 
of  ow  and  xq^on  ;  though  vppan,  the  old  form,  seems 
always  to  have  had  reference  to  elevation,  as,  "  U])pan 


SIMPLE  PREPOSITIONS.  369 

?»isne  Stan,"  "upon  this  stone"  (Matt. xxi, 44):  ^'Uppan 
hys  heafod,"  "upon  his  head"  (Matt.  xxvi.  7) :  Ui^pe- 
land,  «2)-land ;  up-T\Q^  w^j-kingdom,  heavenly  kingdom. 
The  preposition  on  is  sometimes  confounded  with  of, 
as,  "  Take  hold  on  it."  We  lay  hold  on  a  thing,  but 
we  take  hold  of  it. 

"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  doeth  this,  and  the  son  of  man  that 
layeth  hold  on  it." — Isaiah  v.  6. 

"  Every  one  that  keepeth  the  sabbath  from  polluting  it,  and 
taketh  hold  of  my  covenant." — Ihid.  Ivi.  6. 

With  and  By. 

Willi  properly  denotes  concoraitaDcy  or  assistance ; 
%,  the  proximate  cause;  as,  "The  soldiers  entered  the 
breach  with  loaded  muskets:  their  leader  fell  mortally 
wounded  hy  a  musket-ball."  In  the  former  case,  with 
is  adjunctive;  in  the  latter,  hy  is  instrumental. 

When  Ovid  says, 

"  Terrificam  capitis  concussit  terque  quaterque 
Cajsariem,  cum  qua  terram,  mare,  sidera,  movit," 

{Metamorph.  i.  179), 

he  does  not  mean,  that  the  shaking  of  Jupiter's  hair  was 
the  cause  which  moved  the  earth,  sea,  and  stars ;  but 
that  the  shaking  of  his  hair  accompanied  this  act  of 
power.  We  may  say,  "  With  prayers  and  tears  he  sup- 
plicated pardon;"  but  in  such  a  case  prayers  and  tears 
would  not  be  instruments,  but  adjuncts  or  concomitants, 
cum  precibus  et  lacrymis.  "lie  drew  water  from  the 
well  with  a  rope."  The  man  {he)  is  the  instrument,  the 
rope  an  adjunct. 


370       TERMS  COMPOUNDED  WITU  PREPOSITIONS. 


CHAPTER   YI. 

TERMS  COMPOUNDED  WITH  PREPOSITIONS. 

As  a  general  rule,  a  term  compoundetl  with  a  prepo- 
sition will  require  after  it  a  preposition  of  similar  im- 
port, should  a  preposition  be  required  at  all.  Thus  \vq 
say,  in  compliance  tvilh;  not  in  compliance  to,  as  in 
Swift,  "It  was  perfectly  in  compliance  (o  some  persons;" 
nor,  as  in  Bacon,  "Diminution  lo  (of)  their  greatness." 

The  same  principle  will  apply  to  verbs  compounded 
with  prepositions;  and  we  dissent /;-om  a  proposition, 
not  "dissent  ivilh  it,"  as  in  Addison,  "  Whig  Examiner." 

Practically,  however,  this  princii)le  is  not  always 
strictly  carried  out.  The  secret  operations  of  the  mind 
will  sometimes  exert  their  influence  and  modify  certain 
phrases  at  jileasurc.  Thus  custom  will  have  the  prepo- 
sition /oand  noi/rom  after  averse;  a  practice  altogether 
at  variance  with  the  etymology  of  the  term  avcrlo,  "to 
turn/row."  Thus  Bentley  follows  custom  when  he  says, 
"Out  of  a  natural  aversion  to  all  (piarrels." 

]m  the  phrase  "aversion  /o,"  Mr.  (J  rant  has  noticed  that 
a  similar  phrase  is  found  both  in  French  and  Spanish;  as, 
".I'ai  une  grande  aversion  pour  (ou  u)  ccttc  maniCsre  de 
vivrc;"  and  "I'engo  una  aversiono  grande  a  (to)  cste 
modo  do  vivir."  We  must  look,  then,  to  the  secret 
operations  of  the  mind  fortius  form  of  expression.  Now 
aversion,  or  a  tximinrj  aivaij,  is  oidy  the  resriU  of  a  feeling, 
anil  not  the  feeling  itself  Dislike  is  the  feoling,  and 
aversion,  or  turning  away  from,  is  the  consequence  of 


ERROES  IN  THE  USE  OF  PREPOSITIONS.  371 

dislike.  We  have  a  dislike  to — cberish  a  dislike  towards 
— an  object,  and  we  turn  from  it.  In  the  expression, 
"  aversion  i'o,"  we  therefore  fall  back  upon  the  primary- 
operation  of  the  mind,  and  we  embody  the  result  of  the 
feeling  with  that  primary  operation  dislike.  "Aversion 
from'''  might  in  fact,  in  particular  circumstances,  convey 
a  meaning  different  from  that  of  "aversion  to ;"  as, 
"From  these  considerations  I  have  an  aversion  to  the 
journey." 

In  more  ancient  authorities,  however,  we  find  the 
preposition  following  aversion  consistent  with  the  ety- 
mology of  the  noun;  as, 

"There  grew  in  the  Brittaines  a  great  aversion /rom  their 
king." —  Verstegan. 

"Aversion  to"  seems  now  to  have  fully  established 
itself. 


CHAPTEll   VII. 

ERRORS  IN  THE  USE  OF  PREPOSITION'S. 

I  KNOW  nothing  on  (of)  it. 

More  than  I  thought /or  (of). 

I  was  thinking  on  (of)  that. 

I  changed  to  (for)  the  better. 

Depending  of  (on)  his  relations. 

In  compliance  io  (with)  your  request. 

Agreeable  ivilh  (to)  your  request. 

The  master  uilh  (and)  his  servant  were  lost. 


372  ERRORS  IN  TUE  USE  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

Without  (unless;  juu  sue  miracles. 

They  quarrel  amongst  one  another  (themselves). 
Amongst  refers  to  numbers  collectively,  and  does  not 
apply  to  one  individually ;  hence  not  one  another,  but 
themselves. 

Among  (in)  a  nation  so  civilized. 
Nation  is  here  a  imitg,  and  amongst  a  unity  would  be 
nonsense. 

Made  much  on  (of). 

No  need  for  (of)  that. 

Free  of  (from)  blame. 

Diflercnt  to  (from)  what  is  said. 

It  was  divided  between  (among)  fifty. 
Between  has  reference  to  two  ])arties  only ;  among,  to 
any  number  more  than  two.  Between  is  compounded  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  be,  by,  and  twam,  or  twoiin,  the  dative 
case  of  twa,  two.  It  was  divided  betiveen  two;  it  was 
divided  among  iiventy. 

However  phrases  like  the  following  may  have  been 
sanctioned  or  tolerated  in  the  use  of  the  preposition  at 
the  time,  custom  and  etymological  propriety,  in  most 
cases,  reject  them  now : — 

"  Value  ourselves  hij  (upon)  drawing." — Swi/l. 

"Bestowed  your  favors (o"  (upon). — Ibiil. 

"Such  occasions  as  fell  into  (under)  their  cugiiizance." — Ibid. 

"That  variety  of  factions  in(u  (in)  which  we  are  still  en- 
gaged."— Jbid. 

"To  restore  myself  into  (to)  the  good  graces  of  my  fair  critics." 

"Accused  the  minister/or  (of)  betraying  the  Dutch." — Swift. 

"  Congnituhite  (i>  tlicinselvos."— />/•//(/<  h.      7'«  superfluous. 

"lie  is  so  rc'solviil  ,,/  (on)  going  to  llii-  rirsiun  court." — 
BaUlry. 

"Swerve  out  of"  {from).— Bolingbroke. 


REPETITION  OF  THE  PREPOSITION.  373 

"Prevail  upon"  (over). — Addison. 
"  Observance  after"  (of). — Swift. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  attention  to  these  con- 
necting particles  is  a  matter  of  indifi'erence.  It  is  pre- 
cisely from  the  improper  use  of  them  that  ambiguity 
and  obscurity  generally  arise ;  and,  unfortunately,  au- 
thors of  high  character,  who  have  been  so  repeatedly 
referred  to  in  the  course  of  this  work,  instead  of  serv- 
ing for  unerring  guides,  often  sink  us  more  deeply  into 
error  by  their  unhallowed  example.  Particles  are  the 
cement  of  sentences,  and  bind  them  into  order,  consist- 
ency, and  stability. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

REPETITION  OF  THE    PREPOSITION. 

"  Exhausted  by  the  abuse  of  her  strengtli,  hy  America,  and  by 
superstition,  her  pride  might  possibly  be  confounded,  if  we  re- 
quired such  a  list  of  three  hundred  cities,  as  Pliny  has  exhibited 
under  the  reign  of  Vespasian." — Gibbon's  Decline,  c.  ii. 

The  particle  of  is  used  with  similar  effect  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  : — 

"  In  their  dress,  their  table,  their  houses,  and  their  furniture, 
the  favorites  of  fortune  united  every  refinement  of  conveniency, 
o/" elegance,  and  (/splendor,  whatever  could  soothe  their  pride, 
or  gratify  their  sensuality." — Ibid.  c.  ii. 

"  7«  journey ings  often,  m  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of  robbers, 
in  perils  liy  mine  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in 
perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderaess,  in  perils  on  the  sea, 
in  perils  amongst  false  Ijrcthren,  /;(  weariness  and  paiufnlness,  in 
watching  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold  and  nakedness." — 
2  Cor.  xi.  26. 
32 


374:  REPETITIOX  OF  THE  PREPOSITION. 

T>y  the  repetition  of  the  preposition  in  tliese  passages, 
the  mind  is  made  to  dwell  emphatically  on  each  object 
of  interest. 

In  the  Litany  of  the  Church  of  England  (one  of  the 
most  tender,  beautiful,  and  forcible  of  human  composi- 
tions), the  preposition /rom  occurs  sixteen  times  in  four 
short  clauses;  and  what  an  earnestness  is  thrown  into 
the  other  two  clauses  following,  by  the  repetition  of 
the  preposition  by  before  each  separate  member  of 
prayer ! 

"  Bi/  the  mystery  of  tliy  holy  incarnation  ;  In/  thy  holy  nativity 
and  circumcision  ;  l>i/  thy  l)ai)tism,  lusting,  and  temptation,  (Jood 
Lord,  deliver  us." 

"  Bi/  thine  agony  and  bloody  sweat ;  ht/  thy  cross  and  passion  ; 
It/  thy  precious  death  and  burial ;  In/  thy  glorious  resurrection 
and  ascension ;  and  b^  the  coming  of  the  Holy  (Jhost." 

Examples  of  this  kind  might  be  greatly  multiplied. 
The  principle  is  founded  on  the  natural  impulse  of  our 
afl'eetions — it  is  the  language  of  nature. 

When  Livy  describes  the  melancholy  reflections  of 
the  Eomans,  on  being  obliged  to  deliver  up  their  arms 
to  the  Samnites,  and  pass  under  the  yoke,  he  amplifies 
and  diversifies  their  grief  by  the  repetition  of  the  pre- 
position or  the  adverb,  as  the  sense  might  require : — 

*'  So  solos  sine  vulncre,  sine  ferro,  siDe  ncio  victos ;  sibi  nt/ri 
strinperc  licuissc  gladios,  non  manum  cum  bostc  consercrc ;  sibi 

net/UICr/tm  III  arm:i.  in  'i  ii/r'/)i<l  m  viic-;    in  nil  iinitii  III  !iiiii!ii>~  ilutos." 

— Lib.  ix. 

So  in  Ca5sar,  "Do  Bello  (Jallico  :" 

"  Ut  |>fne  uno  Icmpore,  et  ad  silva.-?,  ei  m  lluiniue.  el  jam  m 
mauibus  uoBtris,  hostes  vider^'iitur  " 


NATURE  OF  THE  CONJUNCTION".  375 


SECTION  X. 
THE  CONJUNCTION. 

CHAPTEK    I. 

ITS  NATURE. 

The  object  of  a  conjunction,  as  its  name  indicates,  is 
to  join  together,  con-jnngo.  In  plain  English,  it  might 
be  denominated  a  hind-word.  Conjanctions  then  con- 
nect either  two  or  more  words  in  a  sentence,  or  they 
form  one  compound  out  of  two  simple  sentences.  Con- 
junctions are  either  copulative,  that  is,  they  unite,  or 
they  are  disjunctive,  that  is,  they  separate.  Disjunctive 
conjunctions  seem  to  be  a  contradiction  of  terms.  In 
form,  at  least,  they  are  so ;  but  in  bringing  two  or  more 
objects  under  consideration,  the  operation  of  the  mind 
will  either  unite  or  disunite  them,  in  the  process  of 
comparison,  and  disjunction  may  be  as  natural  a  result 
as  conjunction.  Two  objects  brought  conjointly  before 
the  mind  may  be  disunited  by  their  inherent  differences; 
hence  the  objection  to  disjunctive  Q,ox\]\xnQi\ons  is  formal 
rather  than  real.  Ilorne  Tooke  maintains  that  many 
of  our  conjunctions  are  the  imperatives  of  Anglo-Saxon 
verbs,  as,  for  example,  if  from  gif,  and  that  from  gifan 
to  give.  If  however,  was  spelt  in  at  least  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent ways,  some  of  them  deviating  from  giffan  muck 
more  than  ?/in  its  present  form.    In  this  case,  at  least, 


376 


CORKELATIVE  CONJUNCTIONS. 


tbe  conjecture  wears  an  air  of  probability.  Thus,  we 
may  say,  "  If  he  take  sufTicicnt  pains,  in  all  probability 
he  will  succeed."  That  is,  give^  grant  that  he  will 
take  sufficient  pains,  in  all  probability  he  will  succeed. 
Many  of  our  conjunctions,  however,  are  not  so  probable 
in  their  etymology  as  this. 

The  moods  required  by  conjunctions  under  particular 
circumstances,  have  already  been  explained  under  the 
head.  Verb.  As,  however,  the  position  of  a  conjunction 
in  a  sentence  will  often  modifj',  and  sometimes  entirely 
alter  the  meaning  of  such  sentence,  and  as  there  are 
certain  conjunctions,  whose  correlatives  ought  to  be 
carefully  attended  to,  the  conjunction,  as  regards  cor- 
rectness and  effect,  is  well  worthy  of  grammatical  con- 
sideration.    And  first,  of  correlatives. 


CIIAPTEK   II. 


COHREl.ATIVK  CONJUNCTION'S. 


I  AM  the  same  to  day 
It  was  exactly  sndi 
The  same  man 

This  man  is  as  tall 
IIo  is  not  so  worthy 
Both  this    . 
Whether  this 
Ki titer  this  . 
Neither  this 


as  yesterday. 

as  this. 

that  (Uel.  Pron.),  not 
as  I  spoke  of 

as  that,  t.  e.  as  that  is. 
as  she, — as  she  is. 
and  that. 
or  that 
or  tiiat. 
nor  that. 


COPULATIVE  AND  DISJUNCTIVE  CONJUNCTIONS.      377 

No  other         ....     than  (not  hut)  this. 
Though  degraded  .         .         .     yet^  nevertheless. 

All  comparatives  require  to  be  followed  by  ihan^  or 
as,  or  because^  according  to  circumstances;  as, 
This  man  is  stronger  than  that. 
The  more  acceptable,  as  being  unexpected. 
The  more  available,  because  unasked. 


CHAPTER   III. 

CONJUNCTIONS  COPULATIVE  AND  DISJUNCTIVE. 

As  conjunctions  couple  like  cases  of  nouns,  we  cannot 
say,  "The  measure  was  acceptable  to  my  friend  and  /," 
but  to  my  friend  and  me,  that  is,  to  me.  "He  blamed 
her  more  than  him,"  that  is,  "He  blamed  her  more 
than  he  blamed  him."  "He  runs  faster  than  I,"  that 
is,  "  than  I  do."  Simple  and  obvious  as  this  principle 
is,  yet  it  is  perpetually  violated. 

Nor  can  we,  with  propriety,  couple  together  different 
parts  of  speech.  As,  "men  sincerely  loving  their  fel- 
low-creatures, and  ivho  hate  oppression,  will,"  <Scg.  The 
terms  ivho  hate,  in  such  a  situation,  ought  to  be  hating ; 
otherwise  we  couple  together  discordant  materials.  Nor 
can  we,  with  propriety,  couple  together  an  adverb  and 
an  adjective,  though  poets  sometimes  take  liberties  in 
this  respect,  as  Shakspeare  (Richard  III.), 

"  Scarce  made  up, 
And  that  so  lamely  and  unfashionable." 
32* 


378  COPULATIVE  AND  DISJUNCTIVE 

We  must  suppose  such  phrases  to  be  elliptical — made 
up  so  lamely^  and,  when  made  up,  unfashionahle. 

The  disjunctive  conjunctions  are  of  course  subject 
to  a  similar  construction.  Though  formally  they  may 
disjoin,  yet  intdkduallij  they  conjoin. 

And  and  An. 

And  and  an  at  a  certain  period  were  used  in  the 
place  of  if. 

"No  marry  (quoth  he)  that  wot  I  well  enough,  but  what  and 
he  call  it  a  home,  where  am  I  then  ?" — Thomas  More. 

"I  trust  to  <!o(l,  «»(/  her  teeth  were  well  graft,  to  have  her 
grace  iu  another  fashion  than  she  is  yet." — Laihi  Byroiis  Letter 
to  Lord  Croviiuell. 

"  Ila  !  said  the  King,  I  have  so  long  desired  to  fight  with  the 
Frenchmen,  and  now  I  will  fight  with  some  of  them,  l)y  the  grace 
of  (Jod  and  St.  (Jcorge ;  for  truly  they  have  done  me  so  many 
displeasures,  that  I  shall  be  revenged,  an  I  may." — Sonlhii/'s 
Naval  HiMori/,  Quotation. 

"I  must  give  over  this  life,  and  I  will  give  it  over  by  the  Lord, 
an  I  do  not  I  am  a  villain." — iihakspcare. 

This  form  of  expression  is  now  obsolete,  though  I 
believe  it  i.s  to  be  heard  occasionally  among  our 
peasantry. 

Also. 

"And  Saul  sent  messengers  to  take  David,  and  when  they  saw 
the  companicH  of  the  Prni)hets  proiihesying.  and  Samuel  stand- 
ing as  appointed  over  them,  the  sjiirit  of  (Jod  was  upon  the  mes- 
sengers of  Saul,  and  they  also  prophesied."—!  t'^'amucl  \ix. 

The  word  aho  is  here  in  its  proper  place,  conveying 
tlic  meaning  that  not  only  Samuel,  and  the  companies 
of  the  prophets  prophesied,  but  the  messengers  also. 
Yet  in  the  next  verse  we  find, 


CONJUNCTIONS.  379 

"  And  Saul  sent  messengers  again  the  third  time,  and  they 
prophesied  also." 

They  also  prophesied — that  is,  they,  the  third  set  of 
messengers,  as  well  as  the  preceding  sets  of  messengers, 
also  prophesied. 

The  introduction  of  also  in  the  following  passage 
renders  it  absurd  : — 

"  And  when  they  found  not  his  body,  they  came,  saying,  that 
they  had  also  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  which  said  that  he  was 
alive." — Luke  xxiv.  23. 

We  cannot  connect  an  entity  with  a  non-entity.  The 
sentence  amounts  to  this:  They  did  not  do  a  certain 
thing,  and  they  did  something  besides.  If  we  strike 
out  a&o,  the  passage  is  clear  and  consistent.  "  And 
when  they  found  not  his  body,  they  came,  saying,  that 
they  had  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  wliich  said  that  he 
was  alive."  Both  the  Greek  and  Latin  of  this  passage, 
however,  require  also  to  be  in  the  position  in  which  we 

find  it  :  Atyovaai  xai  orttaaiav  ayytXiov  lapaxfrat,  "diccntCS  SC 

etiam  apparitionem  angelorum  vidisse." 

It  may  here  be  incidentally  mentioned,  that  the  term 
was,  in  this  passage,  is  capable  of  a  meaning  not  in- 
tended, and  indeed,  strictly  speaking,  distinctly  conveys 
that  meaning.  If  I  say,  he  teas  alive,  I  confine  the 
act  of  living  to  a  certain  time  passed,  and  not  continu- 
ing up  to  the  present  time.  He  ivas  alive  at  that  par- 
ticular time.  The  meaning  ought  to  have  been  ex- 
pressed in  the  form  which  the  angels  would  make  use 
of  in  speaking  of  a  present  state,  saying,  "he  is  alive," 
eum  vivere,  avtov  ^rjv. 


380  corn. ATTVK  A\n  htsjitxctive 

Likeicise. 

"  And  when  it  was  told  Saul,  he  sent  othqr  messengers,  and 
they  prophesied  Uketvt'se." 

And  theij  lilcewise  prophesied.  The  meaning  of  the 
passage  is,  that  not  only  Samuel  and  the  companies  of 
the  prophets,  and  the  messengers  sent  on  a  former 
occasion;  but  these  messengers  likewise^  they  also  pro- 
phesied. If  we  say  they  prophesied  likeicise,  we  imply 
that  the  messengers  did  something  or  other,  and  pro- 
phesied likewise. 

Both. 

"Give  unto  tby  servants  that  peace  which  the  world  cannot 
give,  that  holh*  our  hearts  may  be  set  to  obey  thy  commaud- 
ments,  and  also"  &c. —  Culled .  Evening  Prayer. 

The  term  holh  is  ambiguous,  for  it  may  signify  the 
hearts  o/"  io//i  of  us.  l^ettor,  "Ciive  unto  thy  servants 
that  peace  which  the  world  cannot  give,  that  our  hearts 
may  hotli  be  set  to  obey  thy  Qominandments,  and  also," 
&c. 

Even. 

"  Hut  if  it  be  of  (lod,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it,  lest  liajtly  yo  bo 
found  even  to  fiffht  a^'ainst  God." — Acts  v.  39. 

Lest  your  attempts  to  put  down  and  silence  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  be  of  such  a  nature,  with  reference  to 
his  a.ssumcd  position,  as  to  exhibit  you  in  the  character 
even  of  lighters  against  God,  and  not  against  man  only, 

•  [The  word  loth  is  omitted  in  the  IJook  of  Common  Prayer  of 
the  V.  V.   Churrli  of  thr  U.  S.  of  America.— Am.  Tiit.] 


CONJUNCTIONS.  381 

utiTtotc  xav  ^(Ofxaxot  iv?i^Or}tt^  lest  jou  should  provG  even 
God-fighters. 

It  is  evident  that,  according  to  the  sense  of  this  pas- 
sage, the  term  even  should  have  followed,  and  not  pre- 
ceded, the  words  to  fight — "  lest  haply  ye  be  found  to 
fight  even  against  God." 

Such  in  the  place  of  So. 

The  use  of  such  in  the  place  of  so  is  a  very  common 
error.  Such  denotes  quality,  so  degree.  If  I  say  "  I 
never  saw  so  high  a  spire,"  the  term  so  denotes  degree 
of  height,  but  I  cannot  say  "  I  never  saw  a  spire  such 
high  ;"  for,  as  so  denotes  the  degree  of  a  quality,  and 
such  a  quality  itself,  they  cannot  be  applicable  in  the 
same  sense.  In  this  case,  the  quality  or  condition  is 
expressed  by  the  term  high,  the  degree  of  that  quality 
by  the  term  so.  I  might  say,  "  I  never  saw  such  a  tree 
so  high,"  because  such  then  denotes  the  quality,  and  so 
the  degree ;  that  is,  I  never  saw  a  tree  of  this  kind  so 
high — a  phrase  which  conveys  a  meaning  very  different 
from  "  I  never  saw  so  high  a  tree."  The  former  phrase 
relates  to  trees  of  a  particular  class,  the  latter  compre- 
hends trees  of  every  kind. 

"  Such  a  great  character  being  given  of  it." — Bentley. 

That  is,  "  so  great  a  character  being  given  of  it." 

But  in  the  place  of  Than. 

"  For  the  sun  is  no  sooner  risen  with  a  burning  heat,  hut  it 
withercth  the  grass." — James  i.  11. 

"This  is  none  other  hut  the  house  of  God." — Gen.  xxxviii.  17. 
"Yet  no  sooner  does  the  morning  dawn,  and  daylight  enter  his 


382      COPULATIVE  AND  DISJUNCTIVE  CONJUNCTIONS. 

room,hiU  this  strange  enchantment  vanishes." — Ilarrei/'sMvdita- 
tion.1. 

"Thoy  have  no  sooner  fetched  themselves  to  the  fashion  of  the 
polite  world,  but  the  town  has  dropped  them." — Spectator. 

In  all  these  cases,  than  is  required  in  the  place  of  hut. 


But. 

In  the  following  passage,  hut  is  used  antithetically 
according  to  its  usual  acceptation,  where  no  antithesis 
is  required  : — 

"The  Arabian  Nights'  Kntcrtainmonts  arc  the  production  of  a 
romantic  invention,  hut  of  a  rich  and  amu::iiui^  imagination." — 
Blair's  Rhetoric. 

Romantic  invention  and  rich  and  aymmnfj  imagination 
are  not  opposed  to  each  other,  but  on  the  contrary  are 
perfectly  compatible. 

In  the  first  coinmandment,  hut  is  used  as  a  preposition, 
followed,  as  usual,  by  the  objective  case: — 

"Th6ii  shall  have  none  other  (.iods  but  me." 

The  passage,  however,  ought  to  have  been  translated 
hesides  me,  proiter  mo. 

And,  Or. 

The  conjunctive  nature  of  and^  and  the  disjunctive 
natureof  or,  must  be  kept  in  view  throughout  a  sentence. 

"  A  man  may  sec  a  metaphor,  or  an  allepory  in  a  picture,  as  well 
an  read  Ihim  in  a  ilescriptidn." — Adilismi's  Diulinjuis  im  Muhila. 

"  It  mu.st  indeed  lie  confessed  lliata  lampoon  <*r  a  satire  do  not 
carry  in  Ihvm  robbery  or  murder." — Sprrtator,  No.  23. 

O/-,  in  both  these  sentences  being  disjunctive,  requires 


OMISSIOX  OF  CONJUNCTION.  383 

it  m  the  place  of  them,  and  iu  the  latter  sentence  does 
in  the  place  of  do. 


CHAPTEE   lY. 

OMISSION  OF   CONJUNCTION. 

Many  passages  in  the  classics,  as  well  as  in  Eng- 
lish authors,  depend  very  much  for  their  vividness,  en- 
ergy, and  propriety  of  description,  on  the  omission  or 
repetition  of  the  conjunction,  as  circumstances  may  re- 
quire. 

If  Caesar,  in  his  celebrated  despatch,  had  said  et  veni, 
et  vidi,  et  vici,  the  connecting  particles  would  have  given 
an  air  of  tardy  deliberation  to  the  execution  of  the  vic- 
tory. 

Again,  Virgil — 

"  Ferte  citi  flammas,  date  tela,  scandite  muros." 

ViKGiL,  jEneid,  ix.  37. 

Again, 

"  For  there  is  wrath  gone  out  from  the  Lord — the  plague  is 
begun." — Numbers  svi.  46. 

Here,  there  is  no  lingering.     The  wrath  of  God  and  the 
plague — its  effects  are  simultaneous  and  coincident. 

"  Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind — the  sea  covered  them,  they 
sank  like  lead  in  the  mighty  waters." — Ex-odan  xiv.  10. 

"  Thou  strelchcdst  out  Uiy  right  hand— the  earth  swallowed 
ihcm:'— Ibid.  xiv.  12. 

A   sublime   description   of  God's  power,  and  of  tlie 
prompt  connection  of  cause  and  effect. 


384  OMISSION  OF  CONJUNCTION. 

When  St.  Paul  says  of  Charity,  that  "she  beareth 
all  things,  belicvcth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  en- 
durcth  all  things,"  he  gives  a  beautiful  summary  and 
condensation  of  the  properties  of  this  maternal  virtue. 
The  introduction  of  the  copulative  between  each  member 
of  the  sentence  would  have  spoiled  the  cllcct. 

IIow  fearfully  does  the  absence  of  tlie  conjunction 
represent  the  horror  and  confusion  of  that  dismal  world, 
in  which  the  damned  spirits,  when  fallen  from  heaven, 
were  doomed  to  wander ! 

"  Through  many  a  dark  and  dreary  vale 
Thoy  pass'd,  and  many  a  region  dolorous ; 
O'er  many  a  frozen,  many  a  fiery  Alp, 
Hocks,  caves,  lakcs,/cns,  bogs,  ikns,  and  shades  of  death, 
A  universe  of  death."  Paradise  Lost,  b.  ii. 

"  And  every  eye 
Glared  light'ning,  and  shot  pernicious  fire, 
Among  Ih'  accursed,  that  withir'd  all  their  strength. 
And  of  their  wonted  vigor  left  thom  ilrain'd, 
Exhaustid,  spiritless,  afflicted.  faUcn."  Ibid.  b.  vi. 

"Wliat  a  concentration  of  calamity  is  here  pictured! 

"  drain'd, 
/•Jj-ltaiistnl,  spiritless,  afflicted, /alien." 

••  Under  thee,  as  head  supreme, 
Thrones,  princedoms,  powers,  dominiuus,  J  reduce." 

Ibid.  b.  iii. 

Here  the  absence  of  the  copula  is  to  mark  a  close  con- 
centration of  power. 

As  the  regular  connection  between  the  members  of  a 
sentence,  by  means  of  the  cojnila,  would  mark  order  and 
regularity,  so  its  absence  in  the  following  passage  is 
descriptive  of  wild  cunfu.sion  : — 


OMISSION  OF  CONJUXCTIOX.  385 

"  Then  might  ye  see 
Cowls,  hoods,  and  habits  with  their  wearers  toss'd, 
And  flutter'd  into  rags — then  reb'ques,  beads  ; 
Indulgences,  dispenses,  pardons,  hidls, 
The  sport  of  winds."  Paradise  Lost,  b.  ill. 

"  Yet  when  I  approach 
Her  loveliness,  so  absolute  she  seems, 
And  in  herself  compleat,  so  well  to  know 
Her  own,  that  what  she  wills  to  do  or  say- 
Seems  ivisest,  virtiLousest,  discreetest,  best.^'  Ibid. 

In  this  passage,  the  affection  of  Adam  for  Eve,  with 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  ascendency  which  she  had 
gained  over  him,  very  naturally  vents  itself  in  an  un- 
interrupted series  of  superlatives,  which  disdain  a  mix- 
ture of  anything  that  might  diminish  their  intensity. 
We  recognize  the  same  principle  in  the  following 
lines : — 

"  0  fairest  of  creation,  last  and  best 
Of  all  God's  works,  creatures  in  whom  excell'd 
Whatever  can  to  sight  or  thought  be  form'd. 
Hall/,  divine,  good,  amiable,  siueet."  Ibid. 

The  desperate  energy  of  a  murderous  contention  is 
forcibly  expressed  in  the  following  lines  from  Byron, 
"  Corsair,"  canto  2d  : — 

"  One  effort,  one  to  break  the  circling  host, 
Thoy/fj)-m,  unite,  charge,  waver — all  is  lost ! 
"VVithin  a  narrow  ring  cumpress'd,  beset. 
Hopeless,  not  heartless,  strive  and  struggle  yet. 
And  now  they  fight  in  foremost  file  no  more, 
Hetnm'd  in,  cut  off,  cleft  down,  and  trampled  o'er." 

"When  Timon  gives  vent  to  his  bitter  and  furious  hate, 
the  violence  of  his  feelings  hurries  him  on,  and  causes 
33 


386  OMISSION  OF  CONJUNCTION. 

him  to  disregard  those  connecting  particles  which  a 
calmer  state  of  mind  and  orderly  arrangement  would 
naturally  dictate: — 

"  Piety  and  fear, 
Religion  to  the  gods,  peace,  Justice,  trufh, 
Domestic  awe,  niyht-rest,  and  ncigbljorhood — 
Lislruclio7i,  inauitcrs,  mt/sterics,  and  trades, 
Degrees,  ohscrranccs,  customs,  and  laws, 
Decline  to  your  confounding  contraries,"        Siiakspeare. 

In  fact,  wherever  strong  emotions  of  love  or  hate  or 
vengeance  arc  struggling  for  immediate  utterance,  wo 
cannot  expect  that  the  words  expressive  of  such  emo- 
tions will  be  clogged  with  expletives.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  afiectionate  remembrance  would  rather  dwell 
upon- the  subject,  there  being  nothing  acting  imme- 
diately upon  the  senses,  so  as  to  produce  a  sudden 
excitement;  accordingly,  when  Adam  speaks  of  Eve, 
and  contrasts  her  loveliness  with  the  sin  to  which  she 
had  seduced  him,  he  is  made  to  say : — 

"  This  woman,  whom  thou  mad'st  to  l»e  my  help, 
And  gav'st  me,  as  thy  jJeiTect  gift,  so  good, 
Sij  fit,  so  acit'[i(alde,  sn  «livine, 

That  from  her  hand  1  could  suspect  no  ill — 

*  «  #  »  « 

She  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  cat." 

Beautiful  picture  of  a  generous  confidence,  and  of  the 
afiection  which,  in  spite  of  adverse  circumstances,  still 
lingers  in  the  breast  of  Adam! 


EEPETITION  OF  THE  CONJUNCTION".  387 

CHAPTER   V. 

EEPETITION  OF  THE  CONJUNCTION. 

When  Milton  wishes  to  exhibit  the  effect  which  sin 
had  wrought  upon  our  first  parents,  he  places,  in  order, 
the  different  passions  that  had  been  engendered  in 
their  breasts,  and  exhibits  them  in  a  series,  link  by 
link: — 

"  Love  was  not  in  their  looks,  eitlier  to  God, 
Or  to  each  other,  but  apparent  guilt, 
And  shame,  and  perturbation,  and  despair, 
Anger  and  obstinacy,  and  hate,  and  guile." 

Again,  when  the  poet,  in  that  sublime  hymn  to  light, 
speaks  of  the* different  objects  from  which  he  had  been 
cut  off  by  blindness,  those  objects  seem  multiplied  by 
the  interposition  of  the  particle  or,  and  a  lingering  sor- 
row is  attached  to  the  consciousness  of  each  individual 

privation : — 

"  Thus  with  the  year 
Seasons  return,  but  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  ev'n,  or  morn, 
Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose, 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine." 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  ii. 

"  If  there  be  a  royal  solitude,  it  is  a  sick  bod.  How  the  patient 
lords  it  there  !  AVhut  cai)riccs  he  acts  without  control !  IIow 
king-like  he  sways  his  pillow,  tumbling,  and  tossing,  and  shift- 
ing, and  lowering,  and  thumping,  and  flatting,  and  moulding  it  to 
the  ever-varying  requisitions  of  his  throbbing  temples." — Elia, 
Essaifs. 

This  is  a  graphic  description.     The  repetition  of  the 


388  REPETITIOX  OF  THE  CONJUNCTION. 

conjunction  diffuses  the  action,  and  presents  it  under  a 
variety  of  forms.  The  royal  patient  is  exhibited  under 
a  wearisome  and  distressing  multiplicity  of  efforts  in 
search  of  repose. 

Tlie  conjunction  is  repeated  before  each  member  of 
the  following  sentence  for  the  sake  of  amplification: — 

"  Italy  teems  with  recollections  of  every  kiinl ;  for  courajje,  tuul 
wisdom,  ami  power,  and  arts,  aiul  sciouccs.  and  licauty,  and  mu- 
sic, and  desolation,  have  all  in  their  turn  made  it  their  dwelling- 
place."— A'(?w  Moulhli/,  No.  103. 

"They  brought  beds,  and  basins,  and  earthen  vessels,  and 
wheat,  and  barley,  and  flour,  and  parched  corn,  and  beans,  and 
lentiles,  and  parched  pulse,  and  honey,  and  butter,  and  sheep, 
and  cheese  of  kine,  for  David,  and  for  the  people  that  were  with 
him." — 2  Siimud  xvii. 

Wliat  a  profuse  variety  of  necessaries  do  these  thirteen 
conjunctions  scatter  over  the  camp  of  David  1  Take, 
again,  tlic  following  pa.«sage,  and  see  how  beautifully 
fhc  article  and  the  conjunction  are  interwoven  with  the 
narrative,  and  how  forcibly  they  depict,  under  various 
aspects,  the  loveliness  of  the  promised  land: — 

"  For  the  Lord  thy  (lod  brinpoth  tliee  into  u  pood  land,  a  land 
of  brooks  of  water,  of  fnuntains  and  depths  that  sprinp  out  of 
vuUrys  and  hills;  a  land  t»f  wheal,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and 
fip-trfcs.  and  pomegranates  ;  u  land  of  olive  oil,  and  honey," — 
JJcul.  viii.  7. 

The  attention  and  kindne.<'3  .shown  by  the  good 
Samaritan  towards  the  wounded  traveller,  are  set  forth 
to  the  greatest  advantage  by  the  repetition  of  the  con- 
junction before  each  member  of  the  sentence.  His  good 
offices  .seem  multiplied  in  every  direction.  Humanity, 
like  a  guardian  angel,  seems  to  flutter  over  the  wounded 
man  with  an  officious  kindness. 


REPETITION  OF  THE  CONJUNCTION.  389 

"  But.  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where  be  was, 
and  -when  he  saw  him  he  had  compassion  on  him,  and  went  to 
him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine,  and  set 
him  on  his  own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care 
of  him."— Luke  x.  30 

"The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  a  consumption,  ond  with  a 
fever,  and  with  an  inflammation,  and  with  au  extreme  burning, 
and  with  the  sword,  and  with  blasting,  and  with  mildew,  and  they 
will  pursue  thee  until  thou  perish." — Deut.  xxviii.  22. 

What  an  awful  extent  of  calamity  is  here  presented, 
afBictionsmultiplied,amplified,\vorked  up,  exaggerated, 
and  operating  with  individualized  energy  in  the  work 
of  destruction  !  For  this  the  passage  in  all  its  sublimity 
is,  in  a  great  measure,  indebted  to  the  repetition  of  the 
conjunction,  the  preposition,  and  the  article. 

The  Adjective,  the  Article,  and  the  Pronoun,  in  the  Place 
of  the  Conjunction. 
These  different  parts  of  speech  are  sometimes  used 
with  great  effect  in  the  place  of  the  conjunction. 

"  Tell  him  all  terms,  all  commerce  I  decline. 
Nor  share  his  council,  nor  his  battle  join."  Pope's  Iliad. 
Again, 

"  Go  then  to  Greece,  report  our  fix'd  design, 
Bid  all  your  councils,  all  your  armies  join ; 
Let  all  your  forces,  all  your  arts  conspire. 
To  save  tlie  ships,  the  troops,  the  chiefs  from  fire." 

Ibid. 

"For  thankless  Greece  such  hardships  have  I  brav'd. 
Her  wives,  her  infants  by  my  labor  sav'd." 

In  this  last  case,  her  in  the  place  of  and  is  more  forci- 
ble than  the  copulative,  because  it  expresses  person- 
ality, and  depicts  Greece  under  a  tender  and  feminine 

character. 

33^ 


390  TUE  INTEliJECTION. 


SECTION  XI. 

THE  INTER.TECTIOX. 

An  interjection  is  a  mere  exclamation,  arising  out  of 
a  peculiar  condition  of  the  mind,  as  alTectcd  by  joy  or 
grief,  or  some  less  definite  emotion.  As  such,  it  is  ca- 
pable of  indefinite  variety.  It  will  stand  alone,  at  the 
beginning,  in  the  middle,  or  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  ; 
but  the  sentence  will  not  be  afl'ected  by  it,  whatever 
tnay  be  the  position  of  the  interjection. 

An  interjection  is  not  significant  by  compact,  ex  in- 
stilulo,  and  in  no  way  enters  into  the  artificial  texture 
of  language.  It  is  an  eflbrt  of  Nature  to  unburden  her- 
self of  some  pressing  emotion.  As  its  name  indicates, 
it  is  thrown  in  among  the  members  of  a  sentence,  and 
is  altogether  adventitious.  'J'he  English  interjections 
are  such  as  Oh!  Alas!  Ah  !  The  Latin  such  as  Oh!  lieu! 
Ilei!  Va;!  In  Greek,  tliey  are  more nunierous than  lliey 
arc  either  in  Latin  or  English.  Tiieso  inarticulate  or 
unjointcd  sounds  are  common  even  to  the  brute  creation. 
Tiie  expression  of  pain  would  probably  not  difler  very 
materially  in  individuals  of  the  .same  species,  to  what- 
ever country  they  might  belong;  while  laugliter,  pecu- 
liar to  the  human  si)ccies,  may  be  con.sidercd  a  continu- 
ous or  protracted  interjection.  In  the  "  Pcrsai"  of 
-/lOschylus,  we  meet  with  various  modifications  of  the  in- 
terjections. The  poet  has  resorted  to  almost  every  form 
of  ejaculation,  in  which  abject  mi.scry  could  becxprcssed, 


THE  INTERJECTIOISr.  391 

in  order  to  furnish  gratification  to  the  Athenians,  in 
beholding  their  once  proud  enemy  humbled  to  the  dust, 
and  pouring  out  the  bitterness  of  affliction,  to  the  very 
last  dregs. 

Such  words  as  Farewell!  Adieu!  Welcome!  are  not 
inarticulate  sounds,  and  are  to  be  looked  upon  as  ellip- 
tical forms  of  speech  rather  than  interjections:  as, 
fareiceU!  may  you  fare  well ;  adieu  !  ci  Dieu^  to  God,  I 
commend  you  to  God.  Can  Good-by  or  bye  be  a  cor- 
ruption and  contraction  of  God  be  with  you  ?  Wel- 
come, icell  or  opportunely  come  ? 

The  following  words  enter  into  the  composition  of  a 
sentence,  and  properly  speaking,  therefore,  cannot  be 
looked  upon  as  mere  interjections:  Woe  is  me!  That 
is,  woe  is  to  me! 

"  0  well  is  thee." — Psalm  cxxviii.  2. 

To  thee. 

"  Well  is  7im  that  hath  found  prudence." — Ecclus.  xxv.  9. 

To  him.  Yet  in  Ecclesiasticus  xxviii.  19,  wc  find, 
"  Well  is  he  that  is  defended  from  it;"  which  phrase, 
having  abandoned  its  basis  as  an  objective  case,  has 
no  grammatical  standing  at  all,  unless  we  suppose  the 
phrase  to  be  an  inversion  of  "  He  is  well." 


392 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

A  SPOKEN  language  is  subject  to  perpetual  changes. 
"Words  gradually  and  imperceptibly  lose  their  meaning, 
and  become  antiquated  and  inajiplicable  ;  not  perhaps 
from  any  etymological  impropriety,  but  from  the  caprice 
of  custom,  and  sometimes  from  the  passive  obstinacy 
and  tenacity  of  downright  ignorance.  A  sluggish, 
stolid,  and  doltish  indifl'erence  to  propriety  is  a  far  more 
dangerous  enemy  tocncounter  than  a  lively,  erratic  ima- 
gination. Human  efforts  and  human  patience  sink 
under  the  daily  and  hourly  pressure  of  a  dead  weight, 
and  conviction  resigns  itself  helplessly  and  hopelessly  to 
the  rude  tyranny  of  popular  caprice.  This  does  not, 
however,  always  furnish  an  apology  for  the  numerous 
errors  which  are  so  profusely  scattered  over  our  litera- 
ture. We  must  look  for  them  in  the  want  of  attention 
to  the  peculiarities  of  the  English  language,  and  to  the 
foolish  supposition  that  the  grammatical  construction  of 
languages,  wide  as  the  poles  asunder  from  that  of  our 
own,  will  prove  a  safe  and  unerring  guide  in  the  analysis 
of  the  English  tongue.  Foolish,  indeed;  else  why 
should  the  literary  giants  of  preceding  ages,  imbued, 
as  tlicy  doubtlessly  were,  with  classic  information  in  a 
high  degree,  be  exhibited  under  a  load  of  negligence 
aud  error,  aggravated  by  the  very  eminence  of  their 
position.  The  purification  of  the  Engli.sh  language  is 
worthy  of  our  holiest  and  never-ceasing  devotion.  It 
will  bear  to  future  ages  the  sentiments  of  a  free,  gcno- 


CONCLULIXG  REMAKES.  893 

rous,  and  singularly  energetic  race  of  men.  It  already 
overspreads  a  large  portion  of  the  world,  and  is  diffusing 
itself,  east,  west,  north,  and  south.  It  carries  with  it 
the  cherished  and  sanctified  institutions  of  its  native  soil, 
and,  under  the  influence  and  adventurous  spirit  of  the 
parent  and  her  vigorous  offspring  in  America,  is  mate- 
rially changing,  or  modifying  the  destinies  of  mankind. 

In  all  the  great  essentials  of  language,  we  have  arrived 
at  a  degree  of  copiousness  such  as  few  languages  pos- 
sess. But  English  literature  furnishes  us  with  no  posi- 
tive and  recognized  standard  of  grammatical  accuracy. 
What  was  the  result  of  the  well-founded  pride  of  Greece 
in  the  excellency  of  her  own  language?  What  the 
result  of  the  unwearied  pains  which  her  orators,  poets, 
historians,  and  philosophers  bestowed  upon  their  com- 
positions? The  delicate  perceptions  of  the  Grecian  ear 
would  not  allow  a  word,  a  syllable,  a  letter,  to  be  out 
of  its  place,  to  form  a  disagreeable  collision  of  sounds, 
or  a  cadence  which  did  not  leave  a  pleasing  effect  upon 
the  senses.  The  result  was  a  language  which,  perhaps, 
will  never  be  equalled  in  the  future  generations  of  man- 
kind; a  language  which  has  become  as  necessary  to  the 
intellectual  wants  of  European  civilization  as  bread  is 
for  bodily  support. 

The  French  and  Italians  have  paid  great  and  praise- 
worthy attention  to  the  formation  and  accuracy  of  their 
respective  languages,  and  Germany  is  following  their 
example.  We  have  societies  of  various  descriptions, 
founded  on  the  intellectual,  social,  or  physical  wants  of 
the  community ;  but  we  have  no  society  of  a  purely 
literary  character,  to  which  the  language  can  appeal  in 
the  case  of  doubt  or  difQculty.     The  consequence  is  that 


394  CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

the  vagaries  of  afloctation,  and  sometimes  even  of  igno- 
rance, will  be  seized  on  as  authorities  worthy  of  con- 
fidence and  imitation,  words  will  be  moulded  in  their 
spelling  to  accord  with  the  transitory  and  ever-varying 
pronunciation  of  the  day,  etymology  will  be  lost  sight 
of,  and  error  present  a  front  of  brass  against  the  hand 
of  correction.  But  if  the  very  "salt  shall  have  lost  its 
savor,"  if  men  of  high  literary  character  shall  think  the 
grammatical  structure  of  the  English  language  a  second- 
ary consideration  onl}',  we  must  not  be  surprised  if  the 
sickness  of  the  head  should  communicate  itself  to  each 
individual  member.  It  is  no  unusual  thinjr  for  men  of 
great  classical  attainments  to  say:  "I  can  understand 
the  grammatical  construction  of  a  Greek  or  a  Latin 
sentence,  I  can  comprehend  its  syntactical  arrangement, 
and  the  mutual  dependence  of  its  several  parts;  but  in 
English  I  see  nothing  but  the  force  of  custom,  and  the 
unbridled  licentiousness  of  idiom."  But,  it  may  be 
asked,  have  these  gentlemen  ever  paid  a  fiftieth  part  of 
the  attention  to  the  construction  of  the  English  lan- 
guage which  they  have  paid  to  that  of  classical  litera- 
ture? ^J'hc  Greek  and  Latin  languages  to  them  have 
been  the  study  of  a  life :  the  English  frequently  little 
more  than  an  incidental  acquisition,  a  matter  of  ear  and 
imitation  rather  than  of  grammatical  principle. 

But  surely  there  is  much  in  our  native  English  which 
deserves  a  separate  attention  on  the  part  of  those  to 
whom  the  education  of  youth  is  intrusted;  and  no  men 
would  be  more  likely  to  opply  themselves  with  success 
to  the  grammatical  analysis  of  their  native  tongue,  than 
those  who  already  have  made  language  their  study,  and 


CONCLUDING  REMAEKS.  895 

pondered  over  the  exquisite  concatenations  of  Greek 
and  Roman  sentences. 

The  errors  which  have  been  brought  forward  in  the 
course  of  this  work  are  but  as  grains  of  sand  picked 
from  countless  and  immeasurable  heaps.  The  difficulty 
has  been  in  rejecting  rather  than  finding  examples  of 
error.  The  author  has  frequently  been  apprehensive 
of  overloading  a  position  with  testimony ;  at  the  same 
time,  he  is  well  aware  that  many  things  worthy  of  at- 
tention must  have  altogether  escaped  his  observation. 
He  is  indeed  sensible  of  the  imperfection  of  his  labors ; 
not  only  as  far  as  his  own  individual  ability  i^  con- 
cerned ;  but  from  the  fact  that  a  work  made  up  from  a 
variety  of  separate  parts  must,  from  its  very  nature, 
remain  imperfect,  and  capable  of  indefinite  addition  and 
improvement.  Literary  error  is  indefinite  in  its  forms. 
It  meets  us  under  a  variety  of  aspects;  sometimes  pre- 
senting a  bold  and  unblushing  front,  sometimes  shy  and 
retiring,  sometimes  of  doubtful  character.  It  slips 
from  the  mind  unperceived,  it  eludes  investigation,  it 
goes  forth  before  the  public,  and  when  too  late,  we  per- 
haps feel  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  force  of  the  trite 
maxim  "fugit  irrevocabile  verbum." 


THE  END. 


L.MVERSIT\    OF   CALIFORNIA   LlllRARV 
Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


•■'Si'V  ^■\^\ySyS/\/\xN.-'--.'"sv'\/V\.--\yV"v.'X*-V 


"Works  on  English  and  American  Literature. 


1.  A  COMPENDIUM  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  ,l,r..noIoKirally  niTnnK.-.l.  fn.m 
Sir  .I..I111  Miiiidrvilli' 1 1  Itli  loiituryi  to  \\  illi.'iiii  Ci.wiriT.  (rlii-f  i.f  Istli  n-ntury ;)  oinsi.-tinj;  of 
I  lii<Til  SkoU-lics  of  the  Authors,  ScU-rtionrt  from  tht-ir  works:  with  Noton  expliiiintory  Bud 

':  'tivo,  mill  <Urit'tin);  to  the  hv.st  olitionD,  nml  to  varioiis  rriliciHuix.  DeKipu<<l  lui  n  toxt- 
book  for  the  hi{;h«<t  cliuweM  in  SehooU  and  fur  junior  clonMes  in  Cullogco,  om  well  aji  fur  private 
n-tulini;.     By  tlmrlcn  V.  Clevelnnd. 

TliLi  vrnrk  Iihk  }>wn  cxtonhirvly  introdurcd,  ax  a  tcxt-houk,  in  Public  IIIkH  and  Normal 
frhoolii,  nnci  in  College!),  Kemalo  Scminaricx,  Aoad|.'U>ie8,  and  prlMite  Seminaries,  Ibrougbuut 
the  United  State.>. 

Tbo  following  opinion!)  of  the  work  arc  Relcrt«d  from  a  large  number  of  a  hiirhly  complimcnt- 
nry  rharactcr,  rccfivc«l  from  gentlemen  eminent  alike  an  literary  men  and  inntructors  of 
youth. 

Prom  Jit.  Jlev.  AUmzo  PntUr,  D.D. 

Pliilndrlphin,  DfC.  9,  1S47. 

llaTinR,  some  yenr»  Rinee,  me<l!late<I  n  fimilnr  nndcrtakinir,  T  run  ninireiiiili-,  in  n  menMire, 

tl.-  .liiTii-iillle?t  with  wbiili  you  were  rnllol  to  eoiitend.  and  the  skill  « illi  wliirli  you   have  fur- 

1  lliem.     Tile  M'lei'iions  M'eni  to  me  to  It-  niiide  with  murli  lii^te  ami  judtnnent,  and  I 

•  but  re'.!ard  this  vi'hime  as  a  very  valuable  mlilition  to  our  Sriiuol   Literature.    The  In- 

vilb  which  a  youm:  kiicwonmn.  in  wbosi-  liaiidx  I  have  pl!ii'<Hl  it.  in  xtudyin);  it,  in  an 

:  <if  the  reception  which  it  must  meet  in  the  mure  advanced  cluivscii  of  our  bifiher  i>chiioU 

i-'r  b-.'ih  Mjxcii.  Alu.v'zo  VamxL 

Frnm  Prnffisnr  Goodrich,  of  Yah  OHlfgt. 

T  h»T«<  rend  Professor  fleveland'o  •'Compendium  of  Kn^'lifh  Literature"  with  IItcIt  intereAt 

'b  uncommon  taste  ami  jiiiIk'hiciiI.     'Ilio  blojrr:ipble«l   t  1  I 

the  extracts  appear  to  me  n<<Miratp  and  di-iirliiiimitiii.  \ 

. ,  ,,  .  .  lii.i   .1 nitiTcsl  of  the  Work,  wbii'b  !Hi]'|illi's  a  want  I  bat   has  li>ii_  .  , .  ..  .■  .1, 

iijch  mii't.  I  Ibliik,  when  known,  Ih-  dcemol  an  almont  indisiH-usablu  auxiliary  in  tbo 
1    ,       -t  clas.<<>;<  of  our  nIiikiIj'  and  acaili'mics,  iu  the  study  of  Knj;lisli  literature. 
iVcio  IJaten,  Janutiry  M,  1S4«.  Cuaunuct  A.  GooDRIca. 

From  Hev.  Otarltt  D.  Iladilnrl;  PP.,  Prr.ffnnr  0/  fntrlUrlual  Philosophy  and  Englith 
Liu  rat  lire  in  Dartmouth  <MUf)t. 

Piirlmnulh  n.lhfjf,  J^hniarti  l.'i,  1S4S. 
'Wv  r.'ir  ?ir: — T  have  read  your  Compendium  with  irreal  sali-fartion  and  dclliilit.  It  i«  n 
U'l.  and  excMidin^ly  well  ■■xe<-ute<l.  The  plan  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  ijuite  orl- 
;  bi<-al  sketches  are  judii'ious  ami  I'le^antly  written  :  ami  the  seliM-tlon  of  authors 
ii'oni  tlii'ir  w<irks,  in  an  eminent  dcirree  Dttisl  to  intn«luce  the  slmlenl  to  Ibe 
I  mo-'t  wholesome  ixirlions  of  our  literature — the  richesl,  noblest  literuluru  the 
w«r|i|  liu- _M  I  iri«luce<l. 

From  Otnr'jf.  P.  Emerson,  Etq.,  Author  of''  The  Schoolmaster,"  ife.  <fc. 

.    P/tnn.  Mirrh  7,  1R4S, 

Nr\   I'cMr  sir: — T  oneht  lonit  apo  to  have  ackimwlediretl  your  verv  fiL-ri  .nt  b.  present  Of  the 

tidluni  of  Kii^-li<b  i.iteniture.     It  Id  Just  the  Ibiu);  I  hail  Wen  >  ce.  and  I  thank 

I  it.     I  liavi-  exaniiiieil  it  Willi  (Treat  can-,  and  have  found  it  !■•  1  Iban  any  otiier 

"hiiiie  I  have  seen,  to  )«  n  text  Iss.k  in  the  study  of  the  history  of  i:ii,;li  li  Ulcraliiri>,     In  kIm 

I  is  fifn  rlifbl  mislliini.  not  Is'ltii/  of  liop<'less  leo'jlb.  but  yet  lonir  enoui;!)  to  make  a  di-ep  im- 


I 


I  It  In  my  vhisil,  and  have  found  it  no  nnoful  and  IntercntlnK  that  I  Iio|)o  it  will 
'liialu  llie  eiroulatlon  which  it  au  rivlily  divert  ea,    ]tpji|>vclfully  your*, 

Oro,  B.  KMnttoN. 

Frtim  tht  Iter.  11.  V  Ay.lrh.ll,  P.D.,firmerly  Prtsidml  of  Woodward  OJ.'ege. 

Cinrinnnii.  Mircii  IH.  IRW. 
IienrJilr: — I  have  reep|»e<l  nml  rend  with  peenllar  and  very  irn-al  saii-f.ici Ion,  your  "Com- 
I  •■niliuro  of  Kngll'h  Mtieratura :  jirculiiir,  IxirnuiMi  it  realises  what  I  hail  lon^  oineo  nketeheil  In 


L  007  617  357  4 


my  own  niiml.  liut  had  hanlly  dared  to  export  to  fee  in  existence:  very  great,  Iwoause  it  is 
prt'ijari'd  with  so  luucli  literary  ta.-^te  and  judu'inent,  and  evinces  tliroUKliout  so  strict  a  reiiant 
fur  purity  of  morals.  M  hilc  its  character  is  such  as  pre-eminently  tits  it  for  f'oUefres  and  llijfh 
Schools,  anil  the  more  advanced  classes,  lx)th  male  and  female,  in  all  our  Academical  Institu- 
tions, it  will  l)e  found  very  instructive  to  professional  and  literary  men,  Kenerally;  and  to  that 
larjie.  and  I  am  happy  to  believe,  increasin'r  cla.<s  of  our  liusiness  men,  who  treasure  up  their 
leisure  moments  and  devote  them  to  the  cultivation  of  their  intellect  and  taste. 

I  feel  entirely  contident  of  the  success  of  your  Ixiok:  and  as  it  is  educate<l  mind  that  rules 
the  world,  so  I  exi>ect  creat,  and  salutary,  and  lasting  etTects  from  the  geueral  iutroUuction  of 
so  souud,  and  pure,  aud  tasteful  a  work  as  that  you  liave  prepan-d. 

Sincerely  your  friend,  B.  P.  Atdelott. 


Fi-om  the  Lnndon  Literary  Gazettf,  nf  March,  1851. 

"The  immense  laboiir  hestowed  in  tlie  jircparation  of  such  a  work,  is  at  once  ohvious,  and  we 
can  hear  testimony  to  the  judgment  and  taste  displayed  hy  the  compiler.  Sir.  t'lcveland  has 
renilered  pood  service  to  the  cause  of  sound  education  by  the  iiulilicalion  of  this  class-book, 
which,  we  trust,  will  1>e  as  widely  intriHluced  into  the  schools  of  this  country  as  it  is  .-ilready  in 
.\mcrica.  The  work  has  been  studiously  prepared  with  a  view  to  the  moral  as  well  as  t^)  the 
intellectual  improvement  of  the  rising  generation,  and  whether  a.s  an  educational  book  or  one 
for  private  reading,  it  is  among  the  best  Compendiunis  of  Kuglisb  Literature." 


I,^,!;  SfJUTHrRPJ  RfGlOfJAL 


— «y-.l,^fTirnllv 


LIBRARY  FACILITY 


2.  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  OF  THE  NI 

arranged.  Consisting  of  IJiographioal  .Sketches  of ' 
with  Notes  explanatory,  illustrative,  and  dircclini 
being  a  Sequel  to  the  "  Compendium  of  Knglish  L: 

typeedition,  AA      ^^\j  kJOO  0/'[l 

This  sequel  to  the  " Compendium"  comprises  biogTapim<.i  -  <J^U      4 

writings  of  KnglL«h  authors  who  died  within  the  present  century,  and  those  at  present  living. 
The  Tolume  therefore  embraces  a  large  number  of  authors  who  flourished  in  the  last  century. 


^00  353  Q2Q 


EXTRACTS   FROM    NOTICES   OF   THE   PRESS. 

"The  arrangements  throughout  are  judicious,  and  the  selections  hare  been  made  with  the 
nicest  discrimination.  The  volume  is  one  well  calculated  to  grace  as  well  the  library  as  the 
centro-talile,  and  to  be  referred  to  ag.Tin  and  again  with  pleasure.  It  is  full  of  information,  and 
may  well  be  described  as  a  casket  of  literary  gems.'" — i'e«na.  Inquirer,  I'/iila. 

"  It  is  quite  sufficient  of  this  noble  volume  to  say  that  it  is  based  on  the  plan  of  the  author's 
"Com|>endium  of  English  literature,"  a  work  which  hn.s  more  judicious  Heading  and  sterling 
excellence  than  any  other  ever  issuetl  for  similar  purposes." — American  Courier,  Pliilada. 

"It  is  a  work  of  scholarship  and  taste,  and  embodies  an  amount  of  admirable  sentiment, 
lofty  eloquence,  and  true  poetry,  which  makes  us  proud  that  we  speak  the  tongue  of  Knglish- 
mcti.  Prof  r.  has  had  the  heart  of  tin'  philanthropist  and  the  Christian,  while  exercising  the 
eye  of  the  critic,  and  has  not  only  kept  out  every  tiling  offensive  to  religion,  but  groujied  to- 
gether some  of  the  best  gems  in  monJs  aud  reliijion  to  be  fouud  in  the  language,'' — Xew  I'oric 
Kvangelist. 

"?Ir.  Cleveland,  in  thU  and  in  his  former  work,  (he 'Compendium  of  English  Literature,' 
prior  to  the  19th  century,  has  had  a  higher  aim  than  ordinary  coni|>ilcrs.  lie  has  nut  chosen  a 
few  brilliant  writers,  in  order  to  make  a  flashy  Ixiok,  nor  is  his  iilea  to  give  a  'smattering"  to 
the  reader,  a  slight  acquaiiilniicc  with  wurks  which  .ought  to  be  llniniughly  known  by  every- 
Ixuly.  Ills  iK.ok  is  rather  like  a  bill  of  fare  to  some  splendid  entertainment,  which  it  is  well 
carefully  to  examine,  before  beginning  to  partake:  or  like  a  table  (.f  contents  to  some  huge 
volume,  which  will  inform  jou  what  there  is  to  lie  found,  and  enable  you  to  choose  for  y 'Ui> 
1  felf  where  to  Itegin  to  read." — Xorlim's  Liit-rary  Advrrtintr,  iWtw  York. 

"  \Ve  commend  the  selection  to  all  who  wish  to  keep  the  well  of  Enclislj  undcfiled,  and  to 
resist  Ihc  tendency  of  the  p<jpu!ar  literature  of  the  day." — 0»nm<m  School  Journal,  Boslon. 


3.  A  COMPENDIUM  OF  AMERICAN  LITERATURE,  chronologically  arranged. 
Consisting  of  Itiographical  PUctchc.H  of  the  Authors  and  Pelcctiniis  from  thi'ir  wnrks;  with 
Notes  explanatory,  illustr.itive,  Ac.    By  Chai-les  D,  Cleveland.    Stereotype  edition,  June,  1859. 


t.  .:»■ 


:<X>;>09<>Q<X?<K 


f  t 


